The Anatomy of A Silent Crisis The Anatomy of A Silent Crisis

Glossary
> Glossary and
abbreviations
Adaptation: In this report, adaptation refers to individual or governmental actions to reduce adverse
effects or future risks associated with climate change. The IPCC defines adaptation as the
“adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or
their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities.”
Affected persons: Persons affected by climate change have seen their livelihoods compromised
temporarily or permanently by climate change.
Attribution of climate change: Effort to scientifically ascertain mechanisms responsible for relatively
recent changes observed in the Earth’s climate, i.e. variations in temperature, weather-related
disasters and disease levels. The dominant mechanisms include manmade activities which
increase greenhouse gases, release aerosols, and cause land surface changes like deforestation.
Climate Change Vulnerability Indicator (CCVI): Developed by Maplecroft, the CCVI is an attempt
to quantify and map vulnerability to the impacts of climate change at the sub-national level.
‘Vulnerability’ is defined as a combination of factors that influence the capacity of individuals,
communities, economies and societies to reduce the risks from changes in patterns of natural
hazards and impacts on ecosystem services as a result of climate change. The CCVI does not
attempt to predict changes to patterns of natural hazards or ecosystems as a result of climate
change. Six groups of climate change vulnerability factors make up the CCVI: economy; natural
resources and ecosystems; poverty, development and health; agriculture; population, settlement
and infrastructure; and institutions, governance and social capital. A sub-index was developed for
each group and these were combined to form the CCVI. The natural resources and ecosystems
and agriculture sub-indices are weighted twice as heavily as the others in the overall CCVI.
Climate Displaced People: Climate displaced people is the term used in this report describing
people who predominantly involuntarily are forced to move or are displaced, either
permanently or temporarily, because of climate change, through its impacts and shocks. It
is possible to estimate the numbers of Climate Displaced People in global terms, since, for
instance, a correlation can be made between the great increase in the number of severe
weather events — much of which can be attributed to climate change — over the last
decades, and the number of additional people that these events displace. It is, however,
virtually impossible to single out individual people or even scenario specific situations as being
attributable to climate change. This means that the definition of Climate Displaced People
carries almost no practical application today. It is however, a useful estimative indicator of the
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