Global Change Vulnerability Assessments: Definitions, Challenges, and Opportunities

Each of the climate and society domains is multidimensional and the interactions across domains are complex, multi-scalar, and only beginning to be understood. An incomplete, yet still daunting, list of climate features to investigate includes the spatiotemporal patterns of specific weather events or associated measures of energy and moisture fluxes. Some social features to investigate include the perceptions, attitudes, impacts, and responses associated with climate variability or change - from numerous perspectives at numerous levels of decisionmaking. This article begins by introducing Global Change Vulnerability Assessments (GCVAs), which achieved international prominence with the publication of the Third Assessment Report of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). It summarizes the ground covered by the more extensive reviews of vulnerability. It then outlines the primary criteria or principles that currently are guiding Global Change Vulnerability Assessments. It also outlines challenges and opportunities for future vulnerability research.