Key Impacts as a Function of Increasing Global Average Temperature Change (Impacts will vary by extent of adaptation, rate of temperature change, and socioeconomic pathway)

Global mean annual temperature change relative to 1980-1999 (°C)

† Significant is defined here as more than 40%. ‡ Based on average rate of sea level rise of 4. 2 mm/year from 2000 to 2080.

 

• Figure 1. Illustrative examples of global impacts projected for climate changes (and sea level and atmospheric carbon dioxide where relevant) associated with different amounts of increase in global average surface temperature in the 21st century. The black lines link impacts; dotted arrows indicate impacts continuing with increasing temperature. Entries are placed so that the left-hand side of the text indicates the approximate onset of a given impact. Quantitative entries for water stress and flooding represent the additional impacts of climate change relative to the conditions projected across the range of Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) scenarios A1FI, A2, B1, and B2 (see Endbox 3). Adaptation to climate change is not included in these estimations. All entries are from published studies recorded in the chapters of the Assessment. Sources are given in the right-hand column of the Table. Confidence levels for all statements are high. Source: IPCC [ 5].

 

other advances in IT that lead to greater resource consumption and the furthering of business as usual. Ultimately, successful adaptation will be a cultural transformation rather than solely a technological one. If this cultural transformation takes place, though, it is likely that IT will be influential in how it unfolds.

Domestic Plant Guild Project
One particular research effort that
highlights the role that adapta-
tion informatics could play is the
Domestic Plant Guild Project. (For
a more complete description of the
project, see [ 14]). This project seeks
to enable human communities to
build robust relationships with
ecosystems of native species. In
modern times, understandings of
native species have waned as irriga-
tion, pesticides, and other tools and
techniques have enabled farmers
and gardeners to support plants
outside their native ecosystems. In
many global-change scenarios, the
resources required to support non-
native plants are likely to dwindle.
The resulting threat of plant loss

November + December 2012