A framework for social adaptation to climate change : sustaining tropical coastal communities and industries

Abstract

The estimated 500 million people who depend on coral reefs worldwide regularly contend with change (Wilkinson 2008). Whether it is the shifting demands of a global marketplace, political upheaval at the national level, shortage of local supplies such as fuel, or fickle weather, the resilience of reefdependent people is often put to the test (Cinner et al. 2009d; Hughes et al. 2005a). Despite this hard-earned resilience, coastal communities and reef-based industries are going to be challenged like never before as climate change exerts a multi-faceted influence (Howden et al. 2007; IPCC 2007). The scale and rate of environmental change driven by increases in concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is unprecedented in human history, leading in the next few decades to significant – and in many cases dramatic – alterations in the availability and quality of ecosystem goods and services provided by coral reefs (IPCC 2007, Tonn, 2007, McClanahan et al. 2008)