MODULE 6: CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND MITIGATION MITIGATION

 Human activities, including agricultural sector activities, are causing
climate change through increasing concentration of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere
 Climate change has several impacts on ecosystems and societies
 Need for protection from these impacts-victims and contributor
CLIMATE CHANGE
 Climate change involves any significant changes in climate at the
global level over time, whether due to natural variability or because
of human activity
 Climates extremes are short-term extreme climatic conditions such
as the occurrence of El Nino and La Nina in the country
CLIMATE VARIABILITY
 Climate variability is the variations in the mean state of the climate
on all temporal and spatial state of the climate on all temporal and
spatial scales beyond that of individual weather events
 Climate variability is generally short term and abrupt climate
variations
 Focuses on limiting greenhouse gas emissions to moderate global
climate change
 Addresses the causes of the problem which involves reducing GHG
concentration in the atmosphere
 Activities that will promote efforts to reduce or limit greenhouse gas
emissions or to enhance greenhouse gas sequestration
 Include “technological changes that reduce resource inputs and
emission per unit of output”
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS
ADAPTATION
 It is a response of individuals, groups and governments to actual or
expected changes in climatic conditions of their effects
 Activities that aim “to reduce vulnerability of human or natural
systems to the impacts of climate change and climate-related risks,
by maintaining or increasing adaptive capacity and systems
resilience

HOW TO DEAL WITH GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE? ADAPTIVE CAPACITY

ADAPTATION  Economic wealth

 Infrastructure and technology
 Focuses on learning to live with the environmental changes and  Institutions and services
societal consequences brought about by global climate change  Information, knowledge and skills
 It is the adjustment in natural or human systems in response to  Equity
actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates  Social capital
harm or exploits beneficial opportunities  Willingness to adapt

3 TYPES OF ADAPTATION HAZARD

 Anticipatory adaptation  It is the potential occurrence of an event or trend that may cause
 Autonomous adaptation loss of life, injury, and damage
 Planned adaptation
EXPOSURE
  Earlier snow melt peak
 The presence of people, resources and infrastructure in places that  Changed in drought frequency
could be adversely affected
VULNERABILITY

Examples:  It is the degree to which a system or system component is likely to

experience harm due to exposure to a hazard, either a perturbation
1. Less snowfall changes average temperature of stress/stressor (White 1974)
2. Higher average temperatures
3. More frequent/severe heat waves RESILIENCE
4. Reduces frost risk
5. More extreme rainfall events  It is the ability to absorb disturbances, to be changed and then to
6. Changed seasonal rainfall re-organize and still have the same identity (retain the same basic
7. Higher evaporation structure and ways of functioning)
8. More/less cloud and radiation FACTORS AFFECTING VULNERABILITY
9. Sea level rise
10. Longer dry spell SOCIAL INTEGRATION

SENSITIVITY  Age
 Gender
 How the system or the individual responds to a change in  Ethnicity
exposure?  Location
 Status
 Area below or near sea level are sensitive to sea level rise
 Wealth
 Wheat is more sensitive to higher temperatures than corn
 Mid-altitude mountains are most sensitive to higher  Income
temperatures  Education
 Coral reefs is more sensitive to temperature changes than  Family type
the Wadden sea
PSYCHOLOGICAL & PHYSIOLOGICAL
EXAMPLE OF IMPACTS
 Disability
 Increased food frequency  Coping style
 Lower river discharge  Individual perception
 Lower soil moisture  Lifestyle
 Increased storm frequency  Agility
 Higher water temperature  Mobility
 Changed species distribution  Experience
 Vegetation change
 Increased wild fire frequency
WHY ARE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES SO VULNERABLE TO CLIMATE  Economic wealth
CHANGE?  Infrastructure and technology
 Institutions and services
 Current climate variability already has a large impact on economies  Information, knowledge and skills
of developing countries  Equity
 Large parts of the economy are highly climate sensitive-in particular  Social capital
agriculture, infrastructure and water sector  Willingness to adapt
 Livelihoods are highly dependent on climate-sensitive natural ANTICIPATORY ADAPTATION
resources
 Dryland agriculture  Adaptation that takes place before impacts of climate change are
 Forestry observed
 Local water resources  Proactive adaptation
 Grazing on areas with low carrying capacity
 Little protection against disasters from storms and floods AUTONOMOUS ADAPTATION
 Many developing countries are in the sub-tropics were rainfall is
predicted to decrease  Adaptation that does not constitute a conscious response to climatic
 Low adaptive capacity stimuli but is triggered by ecological changes in natural systems
and by market or welfare changes in human systems
PHILIPPINES VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL  Spontaneous adaptation
WARMING
PLANNED ADAPTATION
 Visited by an average of 20 typhoons per year
 Philippines is highly susceptible to typhoons because it is located  Adaptation that is result of a policy decision, based on
within Pacific Typhoon Belt awareness that conditions have changed or are about to change
 Philippines is highly susceptible to ground movement and that action is required to return to, maintain, or achieve a
 Sitting along major fault lines=fractured rocks (ground easily desired state
saturated with water)
 Mountainous topography with steep slopes Adaptation reduces vulnerability and increases the coping range.
 Philippines is highly susceptible to flooding and inundations
CLIMATE ISSUES ADAPTATION STRATEGIES
 Archipelago compose of 7,100 islands with low lying areas
 Highly susceptible to sea level rise Flooding, storm surges and sea Urban drainage system, higher
 With longest coastline among the world level rise (coastal erosion) levees, watershed restoration, lining
the river bed and building channels
ADAPTIVE CAPACITY through the city to divert flood
waters, construction of breakwater
offshores
 It is the ability of institutions, system and individuals to adjust to
climate change (climate variability and extremes) to moderate Water supply reduction Construction of water dams, water
potential damages, to take advantage of opportunities, or to cope conservation and demand
with the consequences management, recycling of water
Rise in temperatures and increase Construction of water gate for flood
 Indicators:
in variability of precipitation
Flooding, longer wet season
irrigation, increased crop
diversification, used of improved soil
management practices, access to
agriculture equipment and fertilizers
Shifts to tolerant crops, agroforestry,
and aquaculture, construction of
weirs, provision of upland grazing
areas, new market development,
reformed compensation programs for
flood loss
1. Reducing drivers of vulnerability
2. Interventions aimed of confronting not yet experienced climate
change impacts
3. Broad spectrum of activities with emphasis on vulnerability and
impacts that aim to build response capacity and better manage
climate risks
 The agriculture sector has a substantial potential for mitigation.
About 30% of the global greenhouse gas emissions is due to
agriculture activities and deforestation

ADAPTATION OCCURS AT DIFFERENT SCALES

LARGE SCALE

 Delta Works
 Large dams
 Resettlement
 New national building codes
 Change in infrastructure
 New irrigation systems
 National insurance schemes
 Land use change
 Desalination plant

LOCAL SCALE

 On farm diversification
 Using different varieties
 Changing planting dates
 Improved water use efficiency residential and commercial building transport energy supply waste and wastewater
 Changed irrigation techniques
 Buying an air-conditioning forestry agriculture industry
 Micro-finance and insurance
 Water harvesting

AGRICULTURE 13.5%
 Adaptation strategies include a broad set of activities ranging from
activities that focus on: Emissions from agriculture (13.5% of global GHG emissions) come mainly
from:
  Nitrous oxide from soils nitrogen flows in agricultural ecosystems, leading to less carbon
 Methane from ruminant livestock digestion dioxide, nitrogen and methane released
 Burning of living and dead vegetation
 Rice production 2. Avoiding or displacing emissions. The energy efficiency of the
 Manure management agriculture sector can be improved. In addition, fossil fuel energy
used in agricultural production can in some cases be replaced by
FORESTRY 17.4% biofuels. Greater use of wood products can also lead to displacing
CO2 emissions
 Land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) are responsible
for 17.4% of global GHG emissions, largely through tropical 3. Removing emissions. GHGs can be absorbed from the
deforestation atmosphere through sinks. A sink is any process, activity or
mechanism which a greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a
 However, the agriculture sector has also relevant potential to
greenhouse gas or aerosol from the atmosphere
absorb GHG from the atmosphere though carbon sinks
REDUCED GHG EMISSION
CARBON SINKS

Carbon sinks can be created through carbon sequestration and  Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources
conservation:  Consuming less beef, as cows release large amounts of
methane
 Finding alternatives to ammonium fertilizers, which can be
 Carbon sequestration refers to enhancing carbon storage in soils
converted into nitrogen oxides
and biomass above and below ground (afforestation, reforestation
and re-vegetation, such as restoration of degraded lands, agro-
 Increased absorption of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and
forestry, cropland and grazing management
store them in a solid form
 Carbon conservation refers to the conservation of carbon stocks
 To absorb all CO2 released by industries would require 25 M km2 of
in forests and agriculture systems, through improving management
forests (19% of the Earth’s land surface)
practices (selective felling, reduced impact logging), or
conservation/protection measures (forest conservation, soil
SUMMARY
conservation, fire protection), within forest and agricultural systems
 Increasing GHG concentrations is causing climate change with
 The ocean, forests, and soil can be used as carbon sinks, they absorb
consequent impacts on ecosystems and societies
and retain carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
 Reforestation of areas that have been clearly cut  Adaptation aims at reducing the vulnerability of agricultural systems
 Fertilizing areas of the ocean to promote algae growth to the impacts of climate change and climate-related risks, by
 Protecting and restoring wetlands maintaining or increasing adaptive capacity and resilience
 Key adaptation strategies include a broad set of interventions
MITIGATION STRATEGIES ranging from activities that focus on reducing drivers of vulnerability
to actions aimed at confronting not yet experienced climate change
1. Reducing emissions. Agriculture releases to the atmosphere impacts.
significant amounts of CO2, CH4 or N2O. The fluxes of these gases  Mitigation addresses the causes of climate change. The mitigation
can be reduced by more efficient management of carbon and potential of agriculture is substantial as agriculture and
 deforestation contribute to about one third of global greenhouse gas
emissions.
 Key mitigation strategies include actions aimed at reducing GHG
concentration and creating Carbon sinks through Carbon
sequestration in soils and below and above ground biomass.
 Even with an immediate stop in the GHG emissions, climate change
will occur because of the slow reaction of the climate system.
Therefore, adaptation and mitigation should be considered as
complementary
CHANGE A LIGHT BULB
 Replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL)
bulbs. CFLs last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, use 2/3
less energy, and give
 If every family replaced one regular light bulb with a CFL, it would
eliminate more than 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gases, the
same as taking 7.5 million cars off the road
DRIVE LESS AND DRIVE SMART
 Less driving means fewer emissions. Besides saving gasoline,
walking and biking are great forms of exercise. When you do drive,
make sure your car is running efficiently. Every gallon of gas you
save not only helps your budget, it also keeps 20 pounds of carbon
dioxide out of the atmosphere
BUY ENERGY-EFFICIENT PRODUCT
 Home appliances now come in a range of energy-efficient models.
Make sure that they are still in good working condition and function
efficiently
 Avoid products that come with excess packaging, especially molded
plastic and other packaging that can't be recycled. If you reduce
your household garbage by 10 percent, you can save 1,200 pounds
of carbon dioxide annually
GREEN GARDEN
 In gardening, compost your lawn clippings and leaf waste and use
this to fertilize your plants and garden crops instead of using the
commercially bought fertilizers. This activity does not only saves
money but also lessens global warming
 In your lawns, use a push mower or grass cutter instead of the
motorized lawn mower to reduce gas emission
 Be on the look-out for eco-friendly garden ideas such as Vermi-
composting and Bio-intensive gardening (BIG).
USE THE “OFF” SWITCH
 Save electricity and reduce global warming by turning off lights
when you leave a room, and using only as lighter as you need. And
remember to turn off and unplug your television, video player,
stereo and computer when you're not using them
PLANT A TREE
 If you have the means to plant a tree, start digging. They are an
integral part of the natural atmospheric exchange cycle here on
Earth, but there are too few of them to fully counter the increases in
carbon dioxide
 “A single tree will absorb approximately one ton of carbon dioxide
during its lifetime.
USE LESS HEAT AND AIR
 Adding insulation to your walls and attic and caulking around doors
and windows reduces the amount of energy you need to heat and
cool your home
 Do not use the heater or air-conditioner unless needed and keep
temperatures moderate at all times
ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO CONSERVE
 Share information about recycling and energy conservation with
your friends, neighbors and co-workers. Take opportunities to
encourage public officials to establish programs and policies that
are good for the environment
DISASTER MITIGATION

 The lessening or limitation of the adverse impacts of hazards and

related disasters. Mitigation measures encompass engineering
techniques and hazard-resistant construction as well as improved
environmental policies and public awareness

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

 The knowledge and capacities developed by governments,

professional response and recovery organizations, communities
and individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to, and recover
from, the Impacts of likely, imminent or current hazard events or
conditions.

DISASTER PREVENTION

 The outright avoidance of adverse impacts of hazards and related

disasters. It expresses the concept and intention to completely
avoid potential adverse impacts through action taken in advance
such as construction of dams or embankments that eliminate flood
risks, land-use regulations that do not permit any settlement in high-
risk zones, and seismic engineering designs total ensure the
survival and function of a critical building in any likely earthquake.