AdaptNet for 01 December 2009

1. Australia’s National Coastal Climate Risk Assessment

2. Impact of Weather on Human Health – Melbourne

3. Urban Climate Risks: Challenges & Opportunities

4. Interdisciplinary Approach towards Tsunami Early Warning System

5. ADB’s Policy and Support for Mitigation and Adaptation

6. New Realities in Asia and the Pacific – Conference

Australia’s National Coastal Climate Risk Assessment             

The report provides an initial assessment of the future implications of climate change for nationally significant aspects of Australia’s coast, with a particular focus on coastal settlements. It identifies areas at high risk to climate change impacts. The report helps identify national priorities for adaptation to reduce climate change risks in the coastal zone. 

Climate Change Risks to Australia’s Coasts: A First Pass National Assessment, Australian Department of Climate Change, Canberra, Australia, November 2009  

Impact of Weather on Human Health – Melbourne  

The paper describes how Melbournians with coronary disease respond to hot weather. It identifies threshold temperatures for Melbourne above which the hospital admission rate for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) increases. The paper suggests that the implementation of heat/health alert systems in Melbourne may reduce cardiac morbidity during hot weather. 

When the Heat is On: Threshold Temperatures for AMI Admissions to Hospital in Melbourne Australia, Applied Geography, vol. 30, issue 1, pp. 63-69, Elsevier Ltd, 2010 [subscription required]  

Urban Climate Risks: Challenges & Opportunities         

The paper examines the current institutional efforts for managing climate-related risks in two coastal cities: Manila (water shortage) and Mumbai (flooding). It examines the limitations of current approaches to managing climate-related risks, and identifies critical scientific opportunities and accompanying institutional challenges involved in establishing anticipatory risk management approaches.  

From Reactive to Proactive Management of Urban Climate Risks in Asia: Institutional Challenges, Scientific Opportunities, Shiv Someshwar, Esther Conrad and Mihir Bhatt, Fifth Urban Research Symposium, France, 2009 [279 KB, PDF]  

Interdisciplinary Approach towards Tsunami Early Warning System   

The paper attempts to integrate various scientific disciplines (climate science, engineering, social science) to contribute towards tsunami early warning information system. It focuses on geometric analysis of Padang, Indonesia. The paper’s interdisciplinary results eventually lead to recommendations for reducing the risk of human and physical losses in case of a potential tsunami impact.  

‘Last-Mile’ Preparation for a Potential Disaster – Interdisciplinary Approach towards Tsunami Early Warning and an Evacuation Information System for the Coastal City of Padang, Indonesia, H. Taubenbock et al., Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, vol. 9, pp. 1509-1528, 2009 [4.49 MB, PDF]  

ADB’s Policy and Support for Mitigation and Adaptation

This report outlines ADB’s ongoing and planned interventions to help build low-carbon, climate resilient economies in Asia and the Pacific. It reports that each of ADB’s five regional departments has drafted a climate change implementation plan to serve as a guide for climate-related responses, both to mitigate greenhouse emissions and to adapt to climate change impacts.  

Understanding and Responding to Climate Change in Developing Asia, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Philippines, 2009 [0.98 MB, PDF]

New Realities in Asia and the Pacific – Conference  

This conference will take place at the University of Hong Kong on 25-28 April 2010. One of the program tracks includes: pandemics, climate change, energy security and other challenges: what role will the Asia-Pacific region play in climate change post-Copenhagen climate conference? Abstracts may be submitted by 31 January 2010.  

Reporting New Realities in Asia and the Pacific, the University of Hong Kong and East-West Center, Hong Kong, April 25-28, 2010