2024 Chapters (Layout Features)

Policy Implications for Climate Adaptation in the Context of Nonlinear Impacts and Catastrophic Risks

Campbell, Amy; Schlegelmilch, Jeffrey

While climate adaptation has taken a greater role in the discourse and policy discussions about the climate crisis, integration of risk is generally based on obsolete, linear notions of impact. The latest understanding of climate risk identifies that not only is risk non-linear but there are also tipping points or thresholds that will cause cascading runaway impacts. Once crossed, the full impacts are hard to predict and harder to reverse. But by pairing a more robust understanding of risk into our climate adaptation policies, we can help to avoid these catastrophic outcomes and provide more time for climate mitigation efforts to help reduce the overall threats from climate change.