“The potential to adapt to climate change is not limitless, and adaptation cannot substitute for ambitious mitigation efforts.” The contribution of Jaroslav Mysiak to the report 10 New Insights in Climate Science 2022, which builds on the most salient insights from climate change research realized in the last two years. 

The report 10 New Insights in Climate Science 2022, produced by Future Earth, The Earth League and World Climate Research Programme, presents 10 salient insights from climate change research, stemming mainly from literature published in 2021 and 2022. Taken together they reveal the complexities of the interactions between climate change and other risks, such as conflicts, pandemics, food crises and underlying development challenges – pushing us ever closer to breaking past the socioecological limits within which people and ecosystems must remain to thrive. The purpose of the publication is not only to identify the mounting impacts of climate change and multiple barriers to climate action, but also to highlight implications and recommendations in support of a way forward for negotiators, policymakers and other relevant actors.

“Questioning the myth of endless adaptation” is the first of these insights. Jaroslav Mysiak, Director of the Risk Assessment and Adaptation Strategies at CMCC and member of CMCC@Ca’Foscari, contributed to writing it. “The potential to adapt to climate change is not limitless” reads the report. “People and ecosystems in different places across the world are already confronted with limits to adaptation, and if the planet warms beyond 1.5°C or even 2°C, more widespread breaching of adaptation limits is expected. Hence, adaptation efforts cannot substitute for ambitious mitigation.”

To know more about the “10 New Insights in Climate Science 2022”, visit the dedicated website, or download the report here.