Winners are announced for the Judges’ and Popular Choice Awards
Oct 2, 2014 12:01 EDT
What can be done to adapt to the impacts of climate change?
Climate change is a global problem whose challenges must be met at the local and regional level. Scientists have predicted its impacts to include changes in precipitation, heat waves, increased extreme weather events and disaster intensity, increased flooding and desertification, reduced fresh water resources, changes in disease patterns, and more. Even if we were able to aggressively reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, mean sea levels may rise between 26-54 cm by 2100 under the most conservative scenarios (IPCC 2013), and most projections foresee even higher effects. All of this is likely to affect plant, animal and human life. As such, it is imperative that we act now through conscious adaptation efforts, particularly at the local level, to create more resilient and climate-smart communities. Developing regions will bear a disproportionate risk, and their fate may largely be determined by decisions made in regions with the least incentive to act. This contest seeks to explore innovative institutional, educational, financial, and other means by which we can increase global and local preparedness for climate change on both domestic and international scales. Click here for contest details