Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-55f67697df-2mk96 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-10T14:08:09.174Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - Human response to climate change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Howard A. Bridgman  and
John E. Oliver
By
Stanley A. Changnon
Howard A. Bridgman
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle, New South Wales
John E. Oliver
Affiliation:
Indiana State University
Stanley A. Changnon
Affiliation:
Illinois State Water Survey
Get access

Summary

Introduction

How human beings and societal organizations respond to climate change is an area of considerable debate. McGovern (1991) points out that unambiguous cases of climate impact are rare, and therefore simple correlations between climate change and human activities are not valid. Climate change and variability are included in a range of impacts that can influence human activities, the way humans live, and how lifestyle decisions are made. Other aspects include the level of technological advancement, societal structure, level of economic development, the influence of warfare, the importance of religion, and so forth. Detection of the role of climate variations and stresses in cultural reactions can be very difficult if some of these other factors dominate the lifestyle and decision-making process. It is, however, essential to consider climate along with these other impacts influencing society, if a complete understanding of cultural reaction is to emerge.

It is impossible in one chapter of a book to explore all the potential relationships between climate and human activity. We therefore focus on the period since about AD 500 (therefore all dates referred to are AD) when human activities were starting to dominate natural processes in parts of the world. At the beginning of this period, agriculture began to define cultural landscapes, creating a more sedentary lifestyle, and enhancing an increase in population. Humans also began to have a bigger impact on the local environment, through activities such as forest clearing, draining and filling wetlands, irrigation, and the creation of dams.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Global Climate System
Patterns, Processes, and Teleconnections
 , pp. 244 - 280
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Bokwa, A., Linanówka, D. and Wibig, J., 2001. Preinstrumental weather observations in Poland in the 16th and 17th centuries. In Jones, P., Oglivie, A., Davies, T. and Briffa, K., eds., History and Climate – Memories of the Future. New York: Kluwer, pp. 9–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, N., 2001. History and Climate Change: A Eurocentric Perspective. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bruce, J. F., Burton, I. and Egener, T., 1999. Disaster Mitigation and Preparedness in a Changing Climate. Research Paper 3, Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, Toronto.
Burroughs, W. J., 1997. Does the Weather Really Matter? Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Changnon, S. A., 1996. Losers and winners: A summary of the flood's impacts. In Changnon, S. A., ed., The Great Flood of 1993. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, pp. 276–299.Google Scholar
Changnon, S. A., 1999a. Factors affecting temporal fluctuations in damaging storm activity in the U.S. based on insurance data. Meteorological Applications, 6, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Changnon, S. A., 1999b. Impacts of 1997–98 El Nino-generated weather in the United States. Bulletin American Meteorological Society, 80, 1819–1827.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Changnon, S. A., 2001. Damaging thunderstorm activity in the U.S.Bulletin American Meteorological Society, 82, 597–608.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Changnon, S. A., 2002. Weather on our side. Weatherwise, 55, 11–12.Google Scholar
Changnon, S. A., 2003. Shifting economic impacts from weather extremes in the United States: A result of societal changes, not global warming. Natural Hazards, 29, 273–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Changnon, S. A. and Changnon, J. M., 1991. Storm catastrophes in the U.S.Natural Hazards, 2, 612–616.Google Scholar
Changnon, S. A. and Hewings, G. D., 2001. Losses from weather extremes in U.S.Natural Hazard Review, 2, 113–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Changnon, S. A., Changnon, D., Fosse, E. R., et al., 1997. Effects of recent extremes on the insurance industry: Major implications for the atmospheric sciences. Bulletin American Meteorological Society, 78, 425–435.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Changnon, S. A., Changnon, J. M. and Hewings, G. D., 2001. Losses caused by weather and climate extremes: A national index for the U.S.Physical Geography, 22, 1–27.Google Scholar
Cline, W., 1992. The Economics of Global Warming. Washington, DC: Institute of International Economics.Google Scholar
Davis, R. E., Dolan, R. and Demme, G., 1993. Synoptic climatology of Atlantic coast north-easters. International Journal of Climatology, 13, 171–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeGaetano, A., 1996. Recent trends in maximum and minimum temperature thresholds exceedences in the Northeast U.S.Journal of Climate, 9, 1648–1660.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diaz, H., Kovats, R., McMichael, A. and Nicholls, N., 2001. Climate and human health linkages on multiple time scales. In Jones, P., Oglivie, A., Davies, T. and Briffa, K., eds., History and Climate: Memories of the Future. New York: Kluwer, pp. 267–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downton, M. and Pielke, R. A. Jr., 2001. Discretion without accountability: Politics, flood damage, and climate. Natural Hazards Review, 2, 157–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fagan, B., 2000. The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History 1300–1850. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Grove, J., 1988. The Little Ice Age. Methuen: London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooke, W. H., 2000. U.S. participation in the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. Natural Hazards Review, 1, 2–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hurrell, J., Kushmir, Y., Ottersee, G. and Visbeck, M., 2003. An overview of the North Atlantic Oscillation. In Hurrell, J., Kushmir, Y., Ottersee, G. and Visbeck, M., eds., The North Atlantic Oscillation: Climatic Significance and Environmental Impact. Geophysical Monograph 14, Washington, DC: American Geophysical Union, pp. 1–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 1996. Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jensen, K., Kuijpers, A., Koc, N. and Heinemeier, J., 2004. Diatom evidence of hydrographic changes and ice conditions in Igaliku Fjord, South Greenland during the past 1500 years. The Holocene, 14(12), 152–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, P., Ogilvie, A., Davies, T. and Briffa, K., 2001. Unlocking the doors to the past: recent developments in climate and climate impact research. In Jones, P., Oglivie, A., Davies, T. and Briffa, K., eds., History and Climate: Memories of the Future. New York: Kluwer, pp. 1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karl, T. R., Knight, R. W., Easterling, D. W. and Quayle, R. G., 1995. Trends in U.S. climate during the twentieth century. Consequences, 1, 3–12.Google Scholar
Kunkel, K. E., Pielke, R. A. Jr. and Changnon, S. A., 1999. Temporal fluctuations in weather and climate extremes that cause economic and human health impacts: A review. Bulletin American Meteorological Society, 80, 1077–1098.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamb, H., 1977. Climate in historical times. Chapter 17 in Climate History and the Future. London: Methuen, pp. 423–473.Google Scholar
Lins, H. F. and Slack, J., 1997. Flood Trends in the U.S. during the 20th Century. Reston, VA: U.S. Geological Survey.Google Scholar
Luterbacher, J., 2001. The Late Maunder Minimum (1675–1715): Climate of the Little Ice Age in Europe. In Jones, P., Oglivie, A., Davies, T. and Briffa, K., eds., History and Climate: Memories of the Future. New York: Kluwer, pp. 29–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maunder, W. J., 1986. The Uncertainty Business: Risks and Opportunities in Weather and Climate. London: Methune & Co.Google Scholar
McGovern, Y., 1991. Climate, correlation, and causation in Norse Greenland. Arctic Anthropology, 28(2), 77–100.Google Scholar
McGovern, T. and Pendikaris, S., 2000. The Viking's silent saga. Natural History, 109(8), 50–58.Google Scholar
Mendelsohn, R. and Smith, J. B., 2002. Synthesis. In Global Warming and the American Economy. Northampton, Mass.: E. Elgar Publishers, pp. 187–201.Google Scholar
Michaelowa, A., 2001. The impact of short-term climate change on British and French agriculture and population in the first half of the 18th Century. In Jones, P., Oglivie, A., Davies, T. and Briffa, K., eds., History and Climate: Memories of the Future. New York: Kluwer, pp. 201–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, K. A., 1988. Public and private sector responses to Florida citrus freezes. In Societal Responses to Regional Climate Change: Forecasting by Analogy. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 375–405.Google Scholar
NAST, 2001. Climate Change Impacts in the U.S. National Assessment Synthesis Team, U.S. Global Change Research Program, New York: Cambridge University Press.
National Academy of Sciences, 1999. The Costs of Natural Disasters: A Framework for Assessment. National Research Council, Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Ogilvie, A., Barlow, L. and Jennings, A., 2000. North Atlantic Climate c. AD 1000: Millennial reflections on the Viking discoveries of Iceland, Greenland, and North America. Weather, 55, 34–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfister, C., Schwartz-Zanetti, G. and Wegmann, M., 1996. Winter severity in Europe: The fourteenth century. Climate Change, 34, 91–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pielke, R. A. Jr., 1995. Hurricane Andrew in South Florida: Mesoscale Weather and Societal Responses. Boulder, Colo.: National Center for Atmospheric Research.Google Scholar
Pielke, R. A. Jr. and Landsea, C. W., 1998. Normalized hurricane damages in the U.S.: 1925–1995. Weather & Forecasting, 13, 621–632.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riebsame, W. E., Changnon, S. A. and Karl, T. R., 1991. Drought and Natural Resources Management in the U.S.: Impacts and Implications of the 1987–1989 Drought. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Rogers, J. C. and Rohli, R., 1991. Florida citrus freezes and polar anticyclones in the Great Plains. Journal of Climate, 4, 1103–1113.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SNDR, 1999. Progress and challenges in reducing losses from natural disasters. Natural Disaster Managment. Washington, DC: Subcommittee on Natural Disaster Reduction.
Sylves, R. T., 1998. Disasters and Coastal States: A Policy Analysis of Presidential Declarations of Disasters 1953–1997. Del-SG-17-98, University of Delaware, Newark, Del.Google Scholar
Swiss Re, , 1996. Natural catastrophes and major losses in 1995: Decrease compared to previous year, but continually high level of losses since 1989. Sigma, 2, 1–50.Google Scholar
Thompson, L. T., 1986. Climatic change, weather variability, and corn production. Agronomy Journal, 78, 649–653.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vail, B., 1998. Human ecological perspectives on Norse settlement in the North Atlantic. Scandinavian Studies, 70, 293–313.Google Scholar
Wanner, H., Pfister, C., Brázdil, R.et al., 1995. Wintertime European circulation patterns during the Late Maunder Minimum cooling period (1675–1704). Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 51, 167–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winstanley, D. and Changnon, S. A., 2004. Insights to Key Questions about Climate Change. Champaign, Ill.: Illinois State Water Survey.Google Scholar
Yohe, G. W., 2003. More trouble for cost-benefit analysis. Climatic Change, 56, 235–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×