Climate Adaptation
Climate Responses That Backfire Are a Growing Problem, IPCC Says
Scientists warn of “maladaptation” to effects of global warming such as flooding and drought.
An abandoned mosque stands beyond a sea wall in the Muara Baru area of Jakarta, Indonesia, May 10, 2019.
Photographer: Muhammad Fadli/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Not only are humans not adapting fast enough to hazards created by climate change, many of the relatively limited dollars they are putting toward preparing for a warmer future are being misspent, according to the world’s leading scientists.
The term “maladaptation” runs throughout the report put out Monday by the United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — a notable shift from the last such report to evaluate human responses to climate change, released in 2014.