Lincoln University climate change expert, Associate Professor Anita Wreford, says when adapting to climate change we need to plan for the unexpected.
Associate Professor Wreford, a lead author on the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL) gave a talk entitled “Adapting to Climate Change in New Zealand’s Natural Environment” yesterday (23 October).
She said when making plans for climate change adaptation we had to deal with uncertainty about the future so we also need to adopt a flexible and adaptable approach, look at what would perform across a range of scenarios and consider how long any measures would take to implement.
“Transformation could be painful,” she said, when we have to make changes to cope with issues such as sea level rise, as well as expensive.
She said there was also the issue that any investment in dealing with climate change would have to be long-term, and may not have immediate benefit.
Associate Professor Wreford said climate change effects on New Zealand would include an increase in hot days, with a big range of rainfall, with some areas having extreme amounts and others. drought.
There would be cascading and compounding impacts, she added, which would be misleading to consider in isolation. These would include the loss habitat for some animals, such as penguins, increased and decreased ranges for others, and even a short-term benefit of plant growth through increased carbon dioxide.