A multiple timescales approach to assess urgency in adaptation to climate change with an application to the tourism industry. Issue 63 (September 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Paquin, Dominique; de Elía, Ramon; Bleau, Stéphanie; Charron, Isabelle; Logan, Travis; Biner, Sébastien
• Is Part Of: Environmental science & policy. Issue 63(2016:Sep.)
• Page Start: 143
• Page End: 150
• Publication Date: 2016-09
• Subjects: Climate change -- Adaptation -- Climate vulnerability -- Timescale -- Tourism industry; Environmental policy -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Periodicals; Environnement -- Politique gouvernementale -- Périodiques; Sciences de l'environnement -- Périodiques; Environmental policy; Environmental sciences; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 363.70561
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2016.05.018
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1462-9011

Abstract

Highlights: Reliable climate data are used to identify climate vulnerability. A simple tool is proposed to help users position themselves about the urgency of adaptation. A successful showcase with both climate experts and tourism users is presented. Abstract: As climate change adaptation is increasingly discussed and becoming a mainstream concept, different types of users are asking themselves if and when they should develop an adaptation strategy, often not knowing where to begin. Climate experts, on the other hand, have access to an enormous amount of data that could be useful to users but often do not know how to translate it into something practical. Both users and experts can be linked through two timescales, the system lifespan and climate vulnerability. While the system lifespan relies on the user's estimation of his planning timeframe, the climate vulnerability is estimated from climate model projections and observations. We propose a simple tool to relate user and climate expert knowledge by combining the two timescales. To be reliable, the interconnection implies a dialogue to first identify what sensitive climate variable will impact the system and subsequently the extent of the impact. Climate data can then be used to identify, with the use of a simple graph, how sensitive a system is likely to be and help users position themselves about the urgency of adaptation. The concept has been successfully presented and applied to the tourism industry, notably the ski industry, which is showcased in this paper.