Addressing the Challenges of Climate Change through the Behavioral and Social Sciences

Contact: Stewart Cohen

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences is planning two workshops on climate change response to explore how the behavioral and social sciences can offer different insights into climate change response, complementary to available research in the natural sciences and engineering. The workshop committee is organizing one workshop on incentives for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. A second workshop will address challenges and opportunities to facilitate adaptation. These workshops will take place during 2009-2010.



Communities Adapting to Climate Change--Columbia Basin Trust

Contact: Stewart Cohen

The Columbia Basin Trust is supporting adaptation planning in communities in southeast British Columbia. AIRD is participating on the project's advisory committee. See http://www.cbt.org

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Contact: Stewart Cohen

Since its formation in 1988, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has produced an extensive series of reviews and assessments on various aspects of climate change. Working Group II of the IPCC has focused on impacts assessment, and the complex issue of adaptation to projected changes in climate. During 2004-2007, the IPCC is undertaking its Fourth Assessment Report (4AR). The 4AR will include a volume by Working Group II on sectoral and regional impacts. Dr. Stewart Cohen is serving as a Lead Author for the chapter on Perspectives on Climate Change and Sustainability. The process of completing this report includes four rounds of writing and review, culminating in publication in mid-2007.

Climate Change Scenarios Network (CCSN) – BC Node
Contact: Robin Bing Rong

The CCSN is Environment Canada's new vehicle for distributing climate change scenarios and adaptation research. It provides both a national perspective on impacts and adaptation as well as a regional perspective. The network has the following goals:

• support climate change impact and adaptation research in Canada and other countries,
• support other stakeholders who require scenario information for decision making,
• provide access to AIRD and other Canadian research on the development of scenarios and adaptation research.

The CCSN network will achieve these goals through the dissemination of

• climate change scenarios, particularly from Canadian research;
• downscaling tools;
• documentation;
• impacts and adaptation research;
• tools for conduction impacts and adaptation research; and
• other support information, such as model comparisons.

The Climate Change Scenarios Network consists of nodes in each region of Canada.  The British Columbia node will be established in 2009 with development of BC specific content to complement existing CCSN tools.

Climate Change Scenarios Network national website [http://cccsn.ec.gc.ca] 

Hazards Website for British Columbia and the Yukon
Contact: Robin Bing Rong

An Atmospheric Hazards website for BC and the Yukon will be developed as part of a national climate hazards management network.  Following the format of sites established for Ontario and Atlantic regions, the site will use IMAP technology to provide a variety of information on atmospheric hazards specific to BC and the Yukon.  Users will be able to view prepared maps of single parameters or build maps incorporating a variety of parameters.  The site will also provide information on significant historical weather events and analysis of the factors contributing to weather-related impacts.  The purpose of the hazards websites is to support local decision making and planning efforts that may be impacted by extreme weather or other atmospheric hazards.

National Hazards website [www.hazards.ca]

Climate Change Coordinating Office in Beijing, China
Contact: Yongyuan Yin

In 2004, AIRD/EC and China’s State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) agreed to establish an office in Beijing to facilitate environmental and climate change cooperation between EC and SEPA. The office coordinates and facilitates the development and implementation of Sino-Canada climate change cooperation in areas of climate change adaptation policy, CDM/CS projects, research in vulnerability, impacts, climate hazards, and adaptation, as well as Canada-PRC green technology transfer. Yin has been providing assistance to SEPA on China’s developing adaptation strategies.

 

Agricultural and Rural Systems Vulnerability to Drought: A Comparison of Semi-arid regions in Western Canada and Northwestern China
Contact: Yongyuan Yin

This cooperative research project is part of the MOU between AIRD/EC and the Gansu Meteorological Bureau of China. The project will design an integrated approach for identifying agricultural and rural vulnerabilities to drought, and for evaluating adaptation options to deal with drought risks. The study will also deal with water availability standards for northwestern China. In particular, the proposed project addresses the following questions:

1. How vulnerable are agricultural and rural systems to droughts experienced in western Canada and Gansu, China? And how much water would be available for agricultural use?
2. What can the vulnerabilities of agricultural and rural systems to present droughts teach us about future risks? and
3. What are the desirable adaptation options (e.g. Best Management Practices, BMPs) to deal effectively with future droughts?

The following research activities are now underway:

• Applying methods to study agriculture vulnerability including indicator identification, drought thresholds setting, and multi-criteria evaluation.
• Based on different drought classification criteria and thresholds for agricultural and ecosystem drought vulnerability levels, drought classification and BMPs for these systems will be examined in the case study.