Connected climate adaptation - mind the complex system effects

There is no single adaptation measure in the world. Rather, climate change and its impacts are complex systems that not only exhibit non-linear and unexpected behaviour, but are also highly interconnected. If climate adaptation and resilience measures are not linked in the same way, taking into account the fact that one affects the other, resilience could result in harmful maladaptation and very costly, highly ineffective adaptation.

Let's take a simple example: a major river flowing hundreds or even thousands of miles through several countries is increasingly threatening the environment with flooding. Many cities, large and small, homeowners and property managers are considering or even implementing adaptation measures to protect their assets. Of course, each individual measure taken will affect the others: the flood protection basin installed by a community a thousand miles up the river will have an impact, large or small, on any adaptation measure down the river.

Tracking and orchestrating adaptation measures globally

We can't fight an interconnected climate with disconnected adaptation. While this may seem an exaggerated consideration amidst the urgency of adaptation in general, it could have an even greater impact on populations and businesses some years or decades down the road. This is the devil of complex systems, the consequences of a small effect (aka the "butterfly effect") can have exponential and ultimately catastrophic consequences. Considering the potential risks of uncontrolled adaptation now, and designing possible solutions for the future, can certainly avoid major problems in some decades or centuries to come.

This problem will not be solved without the help of digitalisation and AI. The sheer amount of data and the ability to process it is staggering and may require efforts from global organisations such as the UN, national bodies or industry organisations. It is also conceivable that separate efforts or databases of related adaptation measures could be linked together at a later stage to provide a more comprehensive overview. Most importantly, a broad awareness of the importance of interconnected adaptation is the starting point for concrete solutions.

Discuss with us:

https://locationhealth.solutions