[PCA] Fwd: STUDY: Some Climate Adaptations Do More Harm Than Good

Fri Mar 18 10:37:03 CDT 2016

News from the Wildlife Conservation Society:

A new study published in *Nature Climate Change* says some manmade climate
adaptation strategies will leave us worse off, and that keeping forests,
corals and mangroves intact is the best defense of all.  Link to the paper
is below.  Authors are available for interview.

Best,

Stephen Sautner

***NEWS FROM WCS***

CONTACT: MARY DIXON: (1-347-840-1242; mdixon at wcs.org)

STEPHEN SAUTNER: (1-718-220-3682; ssautner at wcs.org

*STUDY: Intact Nature Offers Best Defense Against Climate Change*

   - *Many climate adaptation strategies such as sea wall construction and
   new agricultural practices do more harm than good*
   - *Native forests reduce the frequency and severity of floods*
   - *Coral reefs can reduce wave energy by an average of 97 per cent,
   providing a more cost-effective defense from storm surges than engineered
   structures*
   - *The cost of adaptation to climate change could reach 100 billion per
   year*

*Link to study:*
http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v6/n2/full/nclimate2918.html

*Photo:* Intact forests like this one in Madagascar represent our greatest
protection against floods and storms.  CREDIT: Julie Larsen Maher/WCS

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WCSNewsroom/status/692711562193145858

WCS Newsroom
<http://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/8543/STUDY-Some-Climate-Adaptations-do-More-Harm-Than-Good.aspx>

*NEW YORK (January 28, 2016) – *Worldwide responses to climate change could
leave people worse off in the future according to a recent study conducted
by CSIRO, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the University of
Queensland.

The paper, “Intact ecosystems provide the best defense against climate
change,” published today in *Nature Climate Change*, discusses how certain
adaptation strategies may have a negative impact on nature which in turn
will impact people in the long-term.

“In response to climate change, many local communities around the world are
rapidly adjusting their livelihood practices to cope with climate change,
sometimes with catastrophic implications for nature,” according to CSIRO’s
principal research scientist Dr. Tara Martin.

The authors say that in Australia and Canada, conservation reserves are
being used as drought relief to feed livestock, while forests in the Congo
Basin in Africa are being cleared for agriculture in response to drought,
and coral reefs are being destroyed to build sea walls from the low-lying
islands in Melanesia.

Dr. Martin added: “These are just few of the human responses to climate
change that, if left unchallenged, may leave us worse off in the future due
to their impacts on nature. Functioning and intact, forests, grasslands,
wetlands and coral reefs represent our greatest protection against floods
and storms.”

The paper states that intact native forests have been shown to reduce the
frequency and severity of floods, while coral reefs can reduce wave energy
by an average of 97 per cent, providing a more cost-effective defense from
storm surges than engineered structures.

Likewise, coastal ecosystems such as mangroves and tidal marshes are
proving to be a more cost-effective and ecologically sound alternative to
buffering storms than conventional coastal engineering solutions.

Co-author Dr James Watson, a lead scientist with WCS and Principle Research
Fellow at the University of Queensland, said that with more than 100
million people per year at risk from increasing floods and tropical
cyclones, ill-conceived adaptation measures that destroy the ecosystems,
which offer our most effective and inexpensive line of defense, must be
avoided.

“The cost of adaptation to climate change could reach 100 billion per year
in the coming decades but this is small change when we consider the
environmental and economic fallout from not using nature to help us cope
with climate change,” said Dr. Watson.

Dr. Watson added: “If we consider another perverse mechanism contributing
to climate change, fossil fuel subsidies, it is small change. A recent
report by the International Monetary Fund estimates global energy subsidies
for 2015 at $US5.3 trillion per year. Eliminating fossil fuel subsidies
would slash global carbon emission by 20 percent and raise government
revenue by 2.9 trillion, well over the funds needed for intelligent policy
and action on climate adaptation.”

“Fortunately some adaptation strategies are being developed that do not
destroy nature, some of which are even ecosystem-based. The protection and
restoration of mangrove forests that is actively funded by agencies such as
USAID is a prime example,” Dr. Watson said.

###

*WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society)*

MISSION: WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science,
conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. To
achieve our mission, WCS, based at the Bronx Zoo, harnesses the power of
its Global Conservation Program in nearly 60 nations and in all the world’s
oceans and its five wildlife parks in New York City, visited by 4 million
people annually. WCS combines its expertise in the field, zoos, and
aquarium to achieve its conservation mission. Visit: newsroom.wcs.org
Follow: @WCSNewsroom. For more information: 347-840-1242.

Stephen Sautner

Executive Director of Communications

Wildlife Conservation Society

Bronx Zoo

Bronx, NY 10460

P: 718-220-3682

ssautner at wcs.org

Skype: scsautner

newsroom.wcs.org

Follow: @WCSNewsroom

[image: new wcs logo.jpg]

-- 
Meenakshi Nagendran, PhD, DVM
Wildlife Biologist
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Division of International Conservation
5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: IA
Falls Church, VA  22041-3803
(p) (703) 358-2315
(f) (703) 358-2115
Meenakshi_nagendran at fws.gov

[image: Stamp out extinction with the Save Vanishing Species Stamp]
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