Adaptation Measures

the opportunity and ability to anticipate the effects of climate change on agriculture and develop

new varieties of crops that are more adaptable to inter-annual variations of weather (Sousounis

and Bisanz, 2000).

While there is uncertainty about future climatic changes and their effects in the Great Lakes

region, failure to invest in adaptation may leave the region poorly prepared to cope with adverse

changes and increases the probability of severe consequences (Smith and Lenhart, 1996).  As

the climate continues to change, our ability to protect sensitive systems may be further

challenged. In addition, the possibility of abrupt climatic Ňsurprises” cannot be discounted.  In

these cases, waiting to react to climate change may be unsatisfactory because the adverse effects

of climate change may be significant (OTA, 1993).  It is therefore prudent to begin considering

investments in adaptive responses to reduce the vulnerability of human health, ecosystems, and

socio-economic systems to current climate variability and future climate change.

5.1 BASIC CONSIDERATIONS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF  

ADAPTATION STRATEGIES

The extent to which interested stakeholders are willing to expend resources to avoid the effects

of climate change will depend in part on their perceptions of the risks posed by climate change,

the perceived costs of the effort, and how much they are willing to risk possible negative

consequences (NAS, 1992; OTA, 1993).  If stakeholders decide to implement adaptive measures

in anticipation of climate change, six important issues must be considered to ensure that the

adaptive responses are effective (Scheraga and Grambsch, 1998):

• Distributional effects:  Stakeholders should focus on specific locations because the effects of

climate change will vary across the region.  Also, stakeholders should consider the

distributional effects climate change will have on different sectors (e.g. commercial fishing,

shipping, and transportation) and demographic groups (e.g. the elderly and very young

children).

• Multiple stresses:  The effects of climate change must be considered in the context of other

stressors and factors, which may be as important to the design of adaptive responses as the

sensitivity to change.  Also, opportunities exist to adapt to multiple factors, including climate

change.

• Cost:  Adaptation comes at a cost.

• Effectiveness of actions:  Stakeholders should investigate the varying degrees of

effectiveness of alternative adaptive responses, as demonstrated by current efforts to cope with

climate variability.

• Maladaptation:  Maladaptation can result in negative effects that are as serious as the

climate-induced effects being avoided.

• Multiple benefits:  Many opportunities for adaptation make sense whether or not the effects

of climate change are realized.

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