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Island Vulnerability and Resilience

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Geography of Small Islands

Abstract

Small islands are considered especially vulnerable to natural and anthropogenic hazards . They are stylised flagships of climate change whose multifarious impacts are thought to show straight and immediate effects. This chapter examines the impacts of climate change and environmental pressures and the direct consequences that result for small island communities, including demographic and social change. Adaptation in this context is not merely a question of technological solutions but also a social challenge, as it is framed by various socio-political and economic settings, coping capacities and national-international relations. Resilience and the challenges of sustainable development are discussed and exemplary approaches presented for the sustainable management of future developments.

In a sea of difficulties there is always an island of possibilities.

German proverb

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Latif Nasser discusses different international law scholar’s approaches to the problem of drowning legal spaces, including ones that might even help threatened nations with their resettlement efforts.

  2. 2.

    See also Report of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Development States in 1994, Bridgetown, Barbados.

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Acknowledgement

This chapter was co-authored by Dr. Jan Petzold, Bremen.

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  1. Institute of Geography, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Beate M. W. Ratter

  2. Institute of Coastal Research, Helmholtz Zentrum Geesthacht, Geesthacht, Germany

    Beate M. W. Ratter

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Ratter, B.M.W. (2018). Island Vulnerability and Resilience. In: Geography of Small Islands. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63869-0_6

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