BIOMES: Katharine J. Mach, Coleman P. Burke Distinguished Visiting Professor, Yale School of the Environment, presents "Increasing preparedness for intensifying climate change "

About the Seminar:
Societies around the world are increasingly preparing for intensifying climate change, such as for floods, heat waves, and fires. These adaptive responses underscore new frontiers for climate research to better support action. For example, people experience climate change and climate policies in very different ways, and adaptive actions to date have struggled to address these differences, sometimes exacerbating issues of affordability or human security, rather than improving them. Further, climate governance is blossoming, with many new approaches being tried but little insight on what is actually working and for whom.

In this presentation, I introduce new approaches being applied in research aiming to support climate adaptation. I will first describe a framework for action-oriented adaptation science, attuned to differential risks and the challenges constraining effective, equitable, and sustainable responses. I will then feature two partnership-based research projects focusing on climate risks and adaptation solutions often overlooked to date: (1) the intersectional risks inherent in season-long exposures to extreme heat and innovations needed to address them, and (2) proactive flood adaptations that have substantially reduced risks in recent decades to little fanfare and prospects for community-tailored adaptation “moonshots” moving forward.

Throughout, the presentation will reflect on core needs and opportunities to advance the usability of science for adaptation and the effectiveness of diverse efforts to deal with and prepare for increasing climate risks.

About the Series:
Over the last fourteen years, the Yale School of the Environment (YSE) has hosted this weekly seminar series. The school's flagship forum is designed to bring cutting-edge research and impactful work to the community.

BIOMES stands for 'Bridging Issues & Optimizing Methods in Environmental Studies"

The series is a community-sourced and student-led effort to bring different perspectives to YSE's main stage.

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