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Are there new ways of visualizing and communicating the future likely impacts of climate change?

This report looks for any that could be used as a single tool to help bridge two gaps: the gap between scientific consensus and popular belief, and the gap between broad-brush information on impacts and vulnerability, and the level of information that decision-makers and stakeholders need to help them make better decisions. A brief review is given of current spatial modelling of climate change impacts, together with some indications of how impacts work has been combined with landscape visualization.

This is followed by an overview of scenarios of future climate change impacts and the issues related to uncertainty. Methods for representing urban and rural vulnerability are discussed, with some treatment of thresholds. The communication of vulnerability in promoting public debate, individual action, and communal and policy action is addressed, particularly in relation to the possible future development of visualization science. The report concludes with a summary of some of the outstanding issues, and possible ways of advancing this important but difficult agenda.

Document(s) 1 of 23