AdaptNet for 18 August 2009

1. Climate Change Risk to Australia’s World Heritage Properties 
2. UHI and Adaptation Options – Enugu, Nigeria
3. California Climate Adaptation Strategy: Discussion Draft
4. Urban Underground Infrastructure and Climate Change
5. Climate Change, People, and Poverty
6. Climate Research and Leadership Network for New PhDs  

Climate Change Risk to Australia’s World Heritage Properties              

The report assesses the likely impacts of climate change on Australia’s 17 World Heritage properties, including: Sydney Opera House, the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu National Park, Lord Howe Island Group, the Tasmanian Wilderness and the Greater Blue Mountains Area. It identifies major gaps in knowledge and recommends a range of responses for these properties.  

Implications of Climate Change for Australia’s World Heritage Properties: A Preliminary Assessment, A Report to the Department of Climate Change and the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts by the Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Australia, August 2009 [3.05 MB, PDF]  

UHI and Adaptation Options – Enugu, Nigeria        

The study investigates the application of Landsat-ETM (imaging instrument) in the study of Urban Heat Island (UHI). It applies the normalized difference method to estimate Land Surface Temperature (LST). The study suggests the use of high density green cover, reflective roofing materials, building massing (arcades) and lightening of pavements as adaptive measures against UHI in Enugu city.  

Assessment of Urban Heat Island and Possible Adaptations in Enugu Urban Using Landsat-ETM, Adinna E. N., Enete Ifeanyi Christian and Arch. Tony Okolie, Journal of Geography and Regional Planning, vol. 2, issue 2, pp. 30-36, 2009 [530 KB, PDF]  

California Climate Adaptation Strategy: Discussion Draft        

This draft adaptation strategy summarizes climate change impacts in seven specific sectors (public health, biodiversity & habitat, ocean & coastal resources, water management, agriculture, forestry, and transportation & energy infrastructure) of California, USA. It outlines possible solutions that can be implemented within and across state agencies to promote resiliency. 

2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy: Discussion Draft, A Report to the Governor of the State of California in Response to Executive Order S-13-2008, Natural Resources Agency, California, USA, August 2009 [3.65 MB, PDF]  

 Urban Underground Infrastructure and Climate Change   

The paper introduces the recent projections of global environmental change, and analyses the impacts of this change on urban physical infrastructure (UPI) and urban underground infrastructure (UUI). It identifies immediate climate change related threats to UUI, and discusses how UUI can help cities to prepare for climate change.  

Urban Underground Infrastructure and Climate Change: Opportunities and Threats, Nikolai Bobylev and Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, Berlin Institute of Technology and Russian Academy of Sciences, Fifth Urban Research Symposium, 2009 [1.17 MB, PDF]  

Climate Change, People, and Poverty

This report is about the impact of climate change on humans. It outlines evidence of how climate change is affecting every issue linked to poverty and development from access to food and water to health and security. The report argues that without immediate action on climate change, development gains in developing countries could be lost.  

Suffering the Science: Climate Change, People, and Poverty, Alex Renton et al., Oxfam Briefing Paper, Oxfam International, July 2009 [1.92 MB, PDF]  

Climate Research and Leadership Network for New PhDs

Dissertations Initiative for the Advancement of Climate Change Research Symposium (DISCCRS V) will be held from 13‑20 March 2010 in Arizona, USA. It aims to establish a collegial peer network of new PhDs to address climate challenge at the interface of science and society. Applications may be submitted by 31 August 2009. 

Dissertations Initiative for the Advancement of Climate Change Research Symposium (DISCCRS V), Dissertations Initiative for the Advancement of Climate Change Research, Saguaro Lake Ranch, Arizona, USA, March 13-20, 2010