Transcript Climate Risk Communication: Some Practical Consideration for

Urgent Challenge and Adaptation
Considerations for Thailand and
Mekong Region
(A View from a Climate Generalist)
Anond Snidvongs
Southeast Asia Regional Center for
Global Change SysTem for Analysis, Research and Training (START)
Chulalongkorn University
(www.start.or.th, www.start.org)
An Urgent Challenge for Climate
Change Impacts and Adaptation
How can we ensure that precise information about climate
science, climate risk, and vulnerability are communicated
to appropriate recipients in the right time, right format, and
right context
Some Practical Considerations for
Appropriate Adaptations
• Various misconceptions about climate, climate change
and risks
• Roles of the information providers
• Information relay and recipients
• Some formal and informal capacity building initiatives
in Thailand
Some Misconceptions
On climate science principles
• Differentiation and relation between climate and
weather
• Focus only on climate means and less on extremes,
ranges and frequencies
• Globally (including GHG) forcing versus
locally/regionally driven climate change/variability
On ways to address the climate problem
• Climate change to be addressed as its own domain
• Climate change is an ‘environmental’ problem
• Global warming can be ‘solved’ by mitigation
Changes in Weather Statistics
(a) Change in climate mean
(a + c) Increased climate
mean and range but same
frequency
(b) Change in climate frequency
(c) Change in climate
extreme range
(a + b + c) Increased climate
mean, range and frequency
Climate change may be of any of these combinations
Some Locally/Regionally Driven Changes
Urban heat island effects
Aerosol effects on air
quality, rainfall, etc.
Land use/cover changes
and impacts on regional
weather and water balance
Adelaide AVHRR and
TRMM
Bangkok MODIS
Some of these local/regional forcings may be related to
GHG driven global warming
Example: Coastal Sea Level in the
Upper Gulf of Thailand
2030 EXTREME RISK
FOR COINCIDENCES
HISTORICAL EXTREME
COINCIDENCES
Episodic Extremes
Storm surge 1.0 m
Episodic Extremes
Buoyancy effect 0.5 m
NE monsoon effect 0.5 m
Annual Events
Spring tide 1.0 m
Mean sea level rise 0.3 m
Land subsidence 0.3 m
2.3 m dike
Misinformation from Sources
• Lack of local data, local agenda, or local context
• Internet is not always a good source of reliable
information, lack of quality control
• Discipline oriented perspectives
• Time and space scale problems
• Hidden/preoccupied agenda
• Lack of communication skill
Information Recipients
• Wrong/incomplete communication, misquotations
• False security on engineering/technical solutions
• ‘Mean’ Climate change signals are smaller than natural
variabilities/extremes
• Unwilling to change/adapt (behavior, lifestyle,
consumption, etc.)
• Consider climate change/global warming as an isolated
‘environment’ agenda rather than an integrated
‘development’ agenda
Formal Education
• M.A., Ph.D. in Environment, Development and Sustainability (A
cooperative postgraduate program of Chulalongkorn University)
– Core Courses
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Understanding Environment, Development and Sustainability
Sustainable Resource Management
Society, Politics and Social Changes
Advanced Issue in Environment, Development and Sustainability
– Selected Electives
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Earth’s Climate System
Energy, Environment and Climate Change
Climate Science, Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation
Managing Biodiversity in a Changing Climate
Adaptation Policy Framework - Climate Change Impacts
Vulnerability Science for Sustainable Development Planning
Climate and Human Settlement
Urban Climate
Communication in Bargaining and Negotiation
Advanced Presentation Skills
Studies in Persuasion and Attitude Change
Informal Education
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Books
Internet
Public/special seminars
Media workshops
Dialogues
Student camps
Thank You
http://research.start.or.th/climate/
Climate change
Future climate threat
Risk
Vulnerability
Adaptation