Adapting to Global Warming

Temperatures are rising on Earth, which is heating up the debate over global warming and the future of our planet, but what may be needed most to combat global warming is a greater focus on adapting to our changing planet, says a team of science policy experts writing in this week's Nature magazine.

While many consider it taboo, adaptation to global climate change needs to be recognized as just as important as "mitigation," or cutting back, of greenhouse gases humans pump into Earth's atmosphere.
The science policy experts, writing in the Feb. 8, 2007 issue of Nature, say adapting to the changing climate by building resilient societies and fostering sustainable development would go further in securing a future for humans on a warming planet than just cutting gas emissions.

"New ways of thinking about, talking about and acting on climate change are necessary if a changing society is to adapt to a changing climate," the researchers state in "Lifting the Taboo on Adaptation."

"The obsession with researching and reducing the human effects on climate has obscured the more important problems of how to build more resilient and sustainable societies, especially in poor regions and countries," Sarewitz said.


SOURCE:
Physorg.com

I think this is a topic that definately needs to have more attention
put onto.

The planet has changed, and regardless of if we stop being detri-
mental, and event ry to undo some of the damage, it will never
be how it was, and as such we need to look into how to adapt our
socities and ourselves to nut just survive, but thrive in it.

Adapting to new environments is a key factor of our evolution,
trying toprevent adapting is a threat to our species, as species that
don't change with there environment tend to die.


Comments, Opinions?

[edit on 2/7/2007 by iori_komei]

That is exactly what policy makers and other scientific disciplines have been advocating for almost a decade.

There are some extremeists in the environmental industry that WANT a disaster to happen, and to further their political/social ends will oppose any attempts at adaptation.

Adapt Or Die...

The poor and disenfranchised will have to suffer the extravagances of the rich.

I think the most effected by global warming will be the ones least capable of having any effect on the environment. The rich will seek the high ground while the people they consider as nothing more than chafe will be left to die.
Droughts that decimate food crops for the poor will be tossed a bone for a while, but nothing will really be done.
Cities like Miami will spend billions on sea walls to protect the valuable property while low lying island nations will be forced to relocate and abandon their homes because rich nations just won't give up the luxuries they've come to expect.


I live in Canada, so I don't see global warming as a problem here. In many ways it could be a benefit for my country by opening up more land for agriculture. We really don't have a lot of land that will be inundated as the sea starts rising, and we have a very low population with lots of resources.
Many parts of the world aren't in our position though, so the next 50 years could get very interesting as more people want what we have.