From Vulnerability to Adaptation to Climate Change: Food for Thoughts in Social Sciences - Vulnerability of Coastal Ecosystems and Adaptation - page 237

the hazard and of the territory. In this sense, the adoption of a
global definition of vulnerability by the IPCC marks a crucial
breakthrough.
6.3. Toward a global and systematic approach to climate change
vulnerability
Climate change is certainly not the only changing factor affecting
future living conditions. The March 2011 tsunami in Japan stresses the
fact that marine-meteorological risks are not the only ones that should
be considered, on the contrary, natural risks in general and their
potential combinations should be monitored. On the other hand,
climate change is likely to mainly exacerbate pressures which already
exist today, such as challenges in achieving high-quality water or the
degradation of forest ecosystems for instance. This realization voices
the need to open up the approach to risk which today still tends to
divide specialists in natural hazards from specialists in the impacts of
climate change. These two scientific communities use different terms
to explain similar questions. The model we propose here aims not to
position ourselves in any of these two communities, but rather
to highlight a common vision of the broad factors which are likely to
affect the vulnerability of a place and of a system. These broad factors
along with their interactions give unifying directions for research
which invite to develop cross-disciplinary research strategies in social
sciences.
6.3.1. From vulnerability to general environmental changes
6.3.1.1. What the IPCC says about vulnerability to climate change
We know from the IPCC's definition of vulnerability to climate
change (section 6.2.1) that the latter depends on three general
components: exposure, sensitivity and the capacity to adapt. The IPCC
also provides definitions to these three components. Exposure
characterizes “the nature and degree to which a system is exposed to
significant climatic variations”. Sensitivity is the “degree to which a
system is affected, either adversely or beneficially, by climate-related