Knowra Climate change vulnerability Climate change vulnerability Climate change vulnerability is the degree to which people, ecosystems, or systems are susceptible to climate-related harm and limited in their capacity to cope or adapt.
Climate change exposure : The presence of people, ecosystems, or assets in places and conditions that climate hazards may affect. Exposure identifies who or what could encounter a climate hazard.
IPCC risk framework : A framework describing climate risk through interactions among hazards, exposure, and vulnerability. It provides the widely used structure for relating vulnerability to climate risk.
Climate change adaptation : Adjustments in human or natural systems that reduce harm or take advantage of climate-related opportunities. Reducing vulnerability is a central purpose of adaptation.
Climate resilience : The capacity of social or ecological systems to absorb climate disturbances while retaining or adapting their essential functions. Resilience emphasizes capacity to withstand and recover; vulnerability emphasizes susceptibility and constrained response.
Climate sensitivity : The degree to which a system’s characteristics make it respond to climate variability or change. Sensitivity helps explain why exposed systems suffer different levels of harm.
Vulnerability assessment : A systematic evaluation of susceptibility to harm and the capacity to cope or adapt. Assessments turn the broad concept into indicators, comparisons, and decisions.
Climate justice : An approach to climate change that examines the distribution of its harms and benefits and the fairness of responses. Vulnerability often reflects unequal resources, power, and responsibility.
Climate mitigation : Human action that reduces greenhouse-gas emissions or increases their removal from the atmosphere. Mitigation addresses the causes of climate change, unlike vulnerability reduction, which limits harm.
Adaptive capacity : The ability of people or systems to adjust to hazards, reduce harm, or take advantage of opportunities. Limited adaptive capacity is a core source of vulnerability.
Climate vulnerability index : A composite measure that combines selected indicators to compare climate vulnerability across places or groups. Indices show one way vulnerability assessments aggregate diverse factors.
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