The dynamics of vulnerability: what droughts and flooding can teach us about adapting to climate change
Cities in the U.S. have been adapting to drought and flooding for many years, implementing a combination of mechanisms to cope with climate and water variability and (often) increasing population. I argue that these experiences help us to understand how society will engage the challenge of adapting to climate change. Data from drought management and flooding show that adaptation to climate variability can shift vulnerability in unexpected ways. This suggests that there is a need for greater engagement with various publics on the tradeoffs involved in adaptation action and for improving analysis and communication about the complicated nature of the dynamics of vulnerability.

Speaker Bio: Lisa Dilling is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, a Fellow of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and a member of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Date: 13 June 2017, 15:00 (Tuesday, 8th week, Trinity 2017)
Venue: Dyson Perrins Building, off South Parks Road OX1 3QY
Venue Details: Gottmann Room
Speaker: Professor Lisa Dilling (University of Colorado)
Organising department: School of Geography and the Environment
Organiser: Dr James Palmer (University of Oxford)
Part of: Oxford Water Network
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Public
Editor: Alastair Strickland