Adaptive Capacity - Climate Change Adaptation and Development: Transforming Paradigms and Practices - page 70

Some coping strategies may be ineffective in both the short and long term,
such as passive behaviour (full reliance on hierarchical structures or divine forces,
leading to fatalism); and dysfunctional arrangements like using corrugated iron
as retaining walls, or roofing houses with loose corrugated iron weighed down
by heavy objects that endanger neighbours during windstorms. Other examples
might be traditional beliefs or social relations that are manifested in the way
hazards and related risk-reducing measures are viewed (SAARC 2008), as
shown by these words from an informal settler in Zambia:
'The frequent heavy rainfalls that come year after year, and the heat,
including the sudden shifts between the two weather conditions are clear
signs of a curse. Women must stop wearing trousers, playing football,
boxing and going to taverns. They should respect their husbands.'
(Simatele 2010:15)
At the same time, there are numerous examples of coping strategies that,
together with other measures, may prove effective in both the short and the
long term. These include collaborating with neighbours and local committees
(e.g. for mutual help or early warning); growing (suitable) plants and fighting
deforestation to reduce heat, flood and landslide risk; accumulating assets for
use as collateral or to sell in post-disaster times without making a loss; reducing
unnecessary expenses; accessing safe and convenient savings arrangements
or loans on favourable conditions; implementing physical measures that
are incremental and/or flexible (e.g. using detachable roofs as firebreaks, or
living in floating houses which rise with the water level); improving waste
and wastewater management; greater engagement in decision-making
for adaptation planning; and investing in and improving access to formal
education.
However, the effectiveness of local coping strategies is threatened by an
increase in the rate and magnitude of existing environmental hazards induced
by climate change. City dwellers are faced with a new starting point from
which they must cope. In the Rio case study, people reported that heavy rains
are increasingly occurring outside the normal rainy seasons, making flood and
landslide events harder to predict and reducing the time available for preparations
and recovery. This means an increased need for coping with more frequent and
severe hazards that consume the resources available for subsequent coping or
adaptation needs (Adger 1996; Risbey et al. 1999; IPCC 2012a). According to
a resident of Caye Caulker, Belize, who is the owner of a hotel where at-risk
neighbours increasingly seek refuge during hurricanes:
'The people affect us more; because they are not prepared, they can do
more damage than the hurricane.'
(Esdahl 2011:15) 11