A Consideration of Adaptation Responses to Climate Change in the Hindu Kush Himalaya Region.

Global climate change is likely to have catastrophic results, with countless experts indicating impending economic collapse, rising social conflicts, and large-scale public health disasters. It is in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas that the humanitarian disaster caused by climate change has the potential to be particularly acute. In addition to the obvious economic and environmental impact that may befall this region, there are also major risks for social and cultural wellbeing of its inhabitants. In response to this combination of stresses and changes, indigenous communities and governments are undertaking measures toward sustainable adaptation. However, the effects of climate change will lead to both adverse and beneficial changes to the environmental, social, cultural, and economic well-being of the region, so too will the effects of these adaption measures. This paper employs the Mauri Model Decision Making Framework to investigate and assesses these adaptation measures and the effect they have on social, cultural, environmental, and economic factors. This technique is aimed at delivering a paradigm comparable to a cost-benefit analysis, whereby nonmonetary benefits may be fairly scrutinized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]