Date of Award

8-2012

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Campus-Only Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Ecology and Environmental Sciences

Advisor

Shaleen Jain

Second Committee Member

Esperanza Stancioff

Third Committee Member

Paul Anderson

Abstract

Adaptation and mitigation are two integral components of addressing climate change. However, little progress has been made to successfully accomplish either component at regional, national or global scales. Failure to mitigate greenhouse gases will make adapting to climate change impacts increasingly important but without actionable tools and information, adaptation will continue to be more reactive than proactive. As a result, the public and their resources will inevitably be affected by adaptation measures that are less planned, and thus more expensive. Place-based research can offer insights into the dichotomy of reactive/proactive climate change adaptation by focusing on climate-related vulnerabilities (e.g., extreme storms) and the processes involved in creating solutions or strategies to address those vulnerabilities. The purpose here is to better understand how climate-related tools and information can be more actionable so that adaptation is proactive, rather than reactive.

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