Drawing on practical examples supported by scientific evidence, this book demonstrates how preserving and managing local climates can complement global mitigation and adaptation as a third way to address the effects of climate change.
The book outlines the mechanisms that shape the local climate components and relevant micrometeorological processes and provide the building blocks for transforming micro- and mesoclimates. Setting out various monitoring methods that help measure and manage these processes, it explores many examples of successful local climate management from different geographies and shows how it is possible to improve the local climate with ingenuity and smart practice.
The knowledge and examples presented in this book aim to inspire us to see the world as a global mosaic of local climates that can be systematically managed, area by area, local climate by local climate, thereby restoring land health and offering protection from climate extremes.
1. Local climate management
2. Deconstructing and reconstructing the local climate
3. Improving the local climate: start of a guiding kit
4. Measuring and monitoring the local climate
5. Conclusion: a patchwork of local action
Appendix: Local climate monitoring tools overview
"Somaliland pastoralists are changing microclimates in 23 sites in the midst of degraded rangelands. Threatened by climate change, in their quest for more fodder, they protect thousands of hectares and proudly show grass and bush species that were thought to be extinct, and springs that produce water and attract wildlife, thought to be long gone. This book gives us great inspiration that on top of all these little victories against hunger, we can create a patchwork of improved microclimates across Somaliland – and in the near future, across the Horn of Africa."
– Thomas Hoerz, Welthungerhilfe, Somaliland
"The bottom up and proactive steps to manage local climates contained within this practical and well written book are the perfect resilience strategy. They provide a natural, positive way for people to thrive within uncertainty. This book is essential reading for everyone working in natural resource management."
– Professor Nathanial Matthews, CEO of the Global Resilience Partnership
"Both empirical as well as scientific evidence have confirmed the two-ways interaction of land and climate. This book adequately presents such proofs, and more importantly, describes how to manage the local climate as a new way to positively respond to climate change."
– Yasir A. Mohamed, Ex minister of water resources, Sudan