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Climate Action pp 1–12Cite as

Climate Change Impacts and Resilience: An Arctic Case Study

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

Definitions

Climate change is defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as an observable change in the state of the climate taking place over an extended period of time that may be caused by natural processes (i.e., volcanic eruptions) or external forces (i.e., anthropogenic changes to atmospheric composition, land use) (IPCC 2014). The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) takes a different approach, defining climate change as a change in climate that can be attributed directly or indirectly to anthropogenic activity and that changes the composition of Earth’s atmosphere. According to the UNFCCC, this change is in addition to observed natural climate variability over a similar period of time (United Nations 1992).

Earth’s climate has naturally fluctuated over the course of history due to internal forces such as variations in ocean currents, volcanic eruptions, and atmospheric circulation. However, since the postindustrial era,...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Urban and Regional Planning, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    S. Jeff Birchall & Seghan MacDonald

Authors
  1. S. Jeff Birchall
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  2. Seghan MacDonald
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Jeff Birchall .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. FTZ-ALS, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences FTZ-ALS, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Ctr Neurosci & Cell Biology, 1 Floor, Univ Coimbra, Edf Fac Medicina, Coimbra, Portugal

    Anabela Marisa Azul

  3. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo University Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

  4. Istinye University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Pinar Gökcin Özuyar

  5. Centre for Work Related Studies, University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tony Wall

Section Editor information

  1. Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Anabela Marisa Azul

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Birchall, S.J., MacDonald, S. (2019). Climate Change Impacts and Resilience: An Arctic Case Study. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A., Brandli, L., Özuyar, P., Wall, T. (eds) Climate Action. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71063-1_79-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71063-1_79-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71063-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71063-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

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