Coping with climate change

What have we learned so far about how climate change is affecting our global environment? Studies show that it adversely affects human and natural systems by  

• reducing biodiversity

• altering hydrological systems

• impairing biological and chemical cycles

• making it more difficult to restore degraded ecosystems

Climate is not the only factor in the deterioration of natural systems.We are making big changes to the landscape, altering land use and land cover in major ways. These changes combined present a challenge to environmental management. Adaptive management is a scientific approach to managing the adverse impacts of climate and landscape change.