Measuring Capacity

Abstract

The global climate change makes the turmoil to coastal community across the globe. Hence, in the process building of community policing strategies, adaptive capacity of coastal society plays an important role to influence change in the community and a mere antagonism for the coastal community leader looking to increase effectiveness. Thus, the adaptive capacity of a coastal society is a step in building bridges between social gaps. This may include the potential, capability or ability of a system (human or natural) to adapt to hazards . It originates from four inherent or built qualities of the society-norms, reciprocity, trust and networks. The coastal socities may have little adaptive capacity to gradual changes in environmental alteration, but adaptive capacity to change in extreme coastal hazards may not be so high. The plethora of studies have been carried out to know comparative adaptive capacity and coastal vulnerability and its difficulties are well recognized and documented. Results are that the estimates of adaptive capacity tend to be based on social, political and economic premises. Highly managed system, given sufficient resources are likely to be more adaptable than less managed systems. Thus, the present chapter gives an overview about adaptive capacity of society against any turmoil and the techniques for its measurement for coastal areas.