Climate Challenges: Bridging the Knowledge Gap

December 26, 2007

Mercy Corps views climate change as the greatest challenge to development and poverty alleviation. Yet scientific predictions of how climate change will impact our world are not yet precise enough to guide humanitarian and development agencies toward the most appropriate programming responses. Different climatic predictions convey varied conclusions about the scale and timing of impacts. In general, they apply at too large a scale to accurately describe likely impacts at local levels.

The research outlined in this document represents Mercy Corps' first step in trying to merge climate science with practical ways to address the threats of climate change at local, community levels. To address both data gaps and confusion surrounding the application of climate research, Mercy Corps partnered with the M.Sc. Environment and Development course from The University of Edinburgh to make sense of climate data through seven studies in countries where the agency works from across the world.

This document is a summary of findings, including conclusions about the way to address climate change impacts and data gaps that remain to be filled.

Different scales and types of impacts are described from urban, forest, mountain, desert and steppes landscapes from Africa, South and South East Asia. Some studies give stark warnings about impacts communities need to prepare for, while others identify critical information gaps that need to be filled before preparations for climate change impact can be effectively designed.

These first steps of applying climate science directly to Mercy Corps humanitarian programs are the beginning of a long but necessary journey. We intend to continue this work in forthcoming years and invite others to join us.

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