World's most vulnerable regions to climate change mapped

Scientists have published a detailed map of regions of the world that are most likely to be affected by climate change - with southern and southeastern Asia among the most vulnerable areas.
Using data from the world's ecosystems and predictions of how climate change will impact them, scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the University of Queensland, and Stanford University have produced a roadmap that identifies the world's most vulnerable and least vulnerable areas in the Age of Climate Change.
The new map identifies southern and southeastern Asia, western and central Europe, eastern South America, and southern Australia as some of the most vulnerable regions, researchers said.

The analysis differs from previous climate change exposure assessments based on only climate change exposure which shows the most vulnerable regions as central Africa, northern South America, and northern Australia.
The vulnerability map will help governments, environmental agencies, and donors identify areas where to best invest in protected area establishment, restoration efforts, and other conservation activities so as to have the biggest return on investment in saving ecosystems and the services they provide to wildlife and people alike.
"The fact is there is only limited funds out there and we need to start to be clever in our investments in adaptation strategies around the world," said Dr James Watson, lead author of the study.

"The analysis and map in this study is a means of bringing clarity to complicated decisions on where limited resources will do the most good," said Watson.

The researchers argue that almost all climate change assessments to date are incomplete in that they assess how future climate change is going to impact landscapes and seascapes, without considering the fact that most of these landscapes have modified by human activities in different ways, making them more or less susceptible to climate change.
The analysis creates a rating system with four general categories for the world's terrestrial regions, with management recommendations determined by the combination of factors.

Ecosystems with highly intact vegetation and high relative climate stability, for instance, are the best locations for future protected areas, as these have the best chance of retaining species, researchers said.
The study appears in the journal Nature Climate Change.