Lunenburg Part 1 - Introduction and Background August 30.pdf

Adaptability and Adaptation
Adaptation to climate and coastal processes is not new to Nova Scotians 12 . For centuries,
inhabitants of fishing communities have constructed and maintained dykes to keep the tides out
of fertile marshlands, rebuilt wharves after destructive storms, and relocated structures further
inland with the progression of erosion. Today, much of the population remains concentrated on
the coast 13 as a result of its cultural, economic, and recreational significance 14 . Adaptation,
however, has become more difficult due to a combination of three factors:
the increased rate and intensity at which change is projected to occur 15 ;
the increased amount and permanence of land uses and structures along the coast 16 ;
and
the decreased extent of coastal buffer zones as a result of development 17 .
The culmination of these factors will cause adaptation to become more frequent, more extensive,
more difficult, and more necessary. The potential is increasing for reactive adaptation –
adaptation that occurs after a change has taken place and also referred to as maladaptation – to
cripple cities and communities.
In order to remain achievable, adaptation must become proactive 18 . But while reactive
adaptation tends to occur regardless of whether or not planning is in place to direct it, proactive
adaptation cannot occur effectively without planning to guide it. Cities and communities must
plan to adapt to climate change 19 .
Planning to adapt to climate change starts with a discussion of what it means to be adaptable.
Environmental forces and human activity have shaped one another for millennia. We have
adapted to natural processes and events around us, while modifying them in order to suit our
needs 20 . Communities, cities, and the environments in which they exist are interconnected and
interdependent webs of living and non-living components; they are social-ecological systems 21 .
The adaptability of such a system can be defined by both its resilience and its stability 22 .
Resiliency is the ability to absorb and to endure disturbance and change 23 . For a community or
city to be resilient, it must be able to recover from disturbance 24 while continuing to provide what
residents need, especially in times of crisis 25 . Resiliency alone, however, is not enough to make
a system adaptable. Extreme, forced changes can be both stressful for residents and taxing on
resources 26 . In such cases, merely enduring is not enough to make change worthwhile, and so
resiliency must be balanced with stability. Stability is the ability to return to a predictable
12 Vasseur and Catto, 2008.
13 CBCL, 2009; Nova Scotia Environment, 2009.
14 Toews, 2005; CBCL, 2009.
15 Government of Canada, 2006; CBCL, 2009; CCSP, 2009.
16 Toews, 2005; Vasseur & Catto, 2008; CCSP, 2009.
17 CCSP, 2009.
18 Burton, 2008; Richardson, 2010.
19 C-CIARN, 2004; CBCL, 2009; Bowron and Davidson, 2011.
20 Hester, 2006.
21 Folke et al., 2002.
22 Holling, 1973; Hester, 2006.
23 Holling, 1973, Folke et al., 2002.
24 Holling, 1973; Folke et al., 2002; Tompkins et al., 2005.
25 Hester, 2006.
26 Ibid.
9