Provides a comprehensive insight into the consequences of climate change for the North Atlantic region. The book takes a special look at regional consequences with regard to the sea, the land, the people, the natural living resources, transport and geopolitics. NORA 2009.
Most public discussions on climate change – and the potential ecological and economic impacts these may have – are focusing on the ongoing build-up of industrial greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and a gradual increase in global temperatures. Based on the trends and tendencies, the conclusions often emphasize that present developments are moving towards an unprecedented situation that is a challenge to the world’s population.
The discussion about the impacts of climate change in the North is often one-dimensional, identifying very simple cause and effect relationships and pointing to a unique situation, tending to ignore other mechanisms and potentially disruptive climate scenarios. At the same time, the current debate tends to ignore historical and pre-historical evidence demonstrating that the Earth’s climate repeatedly has shifted abruptly and dramatically and that it is capable of doing so in the future. Similarly, the discussions tend to ignore that populations throughout the existence of the human species on the globe often have managed to cope with the changes and through ingenuity and insight adjusted to the new situations.
The North Atlantic region in the past has faced challenges that have been comparable to the present situation, and it has coped with these challenges. In many situations, it led to marked changes in the way life was lived, sometimes prompting remarkable innovation, and at other times leading to drastic measures and sudden actions.
CLIMATE CHANGE – AND THE NORTH ATLANTIC provides a comprehensive insight into the consequences of climate change for the North Atlantic region. The book takes a special look at regional consequences with regard to the sea, the land, the people, the natural living resources, transport and geopolitics.
CLIMATE CHANGE – AND THE NORTH ATLANTIC does not attempt to paint an alarmist picture. The North Atlantic Region has in the past faced challenges comparable to the present situation, and has coped with these challenges. In many situations, the challenges it faced led to marked changes in the way of life for the peoples of the region. Sometimes the challenges were met with remarkable innovation; other times drastic measures were implemented. This book dares to discuss the risks, as well as the opportunities, that a changing climate will bring to the North Atlantic Region in the future.
