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Spheres of Influence
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Beyond Mitigation: Planning for Climate Change Adaptation Charles W. Schmidt Abstract
Scientists have recently acknowledged that some degree of global warming is inevitable. Given this fact, efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions are beginning to share the global policy stage with initiatives for adapting to the climate change that is already under way, a shift that U.S. policy makers have been slow to embrace. Climate change is expected to affect different regions in different ways, making adaptation a local issue. Yet a lack of scientific information makes it difficult to predict local impacts, hampering efforts by local, state, and regional governments to prepare. As a way to begin assessing local challenges, a panel of the National Research Council has proposed the use of university-based scientists to help decision makers evaluate local impacts and response options in a program similar to the cooperative extension system.
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