Climate change vulnerability mapping of selected municipalities in Laguna, Philippines
Date
2014
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SEARCA, Los Baños, PH
Abstract
Climate change is the most recent crisis of global impact, and can be most detrimental
to developing countries. Southeast Asia, in particular, has been noted as one of
the regions most vulnerable to climate change. The objectives of the study were
to measure the vulnerability of communities to climate change and to produce maps of
each community’s relative vulnerability with respect to the commune and the agricultural
sector. Three vulnerability determinants—exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity—
and their respective indicators were determined. Exposure refers to damage potential while
sensitivity is determined by the interaction of environmental and social forces. Finally,
adaptive capacity is shaped by various social, cultural, political and economic forces. The
overall index of climate change vulnerability was calculated using a compromise among the
three identified indices and ranked to identify the most vulnerable communes. Using GIS
software, overall vulnerability maps were produced. Results showed that mostly lowland
and coastal areas are greatly affected in all the vulnerability determinants. Agricultural areas
are also more vulnerable, hence, livelihood of communities in agriculturally-dependent
areas will be greatly affected by climate change. Exposure to climatic hazards had the least
number of vulnerable sites, as Laguna is not hit by typhoons as often as other parts of the
Philippines. However, the number of vulnerable sites increased due to high sensitivity and
low adaptive capacity, both factors contributing to half of the study sites being vulnerable.
This implies that should Laguna become frequently hit by typhoons in the future due to
changes in climate, the area will be highly susceptible to damage since its capacity to adapt
is too low.
Description
item.page.type
Book
item.page.format
Keywords
PHILIPPINES--LAGUNA, CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION, DISASTER PREVENTION, AGRICULTURAL SECTOR, COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT, FLOODS, WATERSHED MANAGEMENT, DATA ANALYSIS, MAPPING