Journal of Climatology & Weather Forecasting

A case study on perspectives on climate change, its effects, and adaptation

Bhim Rao Jayate^{* *}Correspondence: Bhim Rao Jayate, Department of Climate and Weather,, India, Email:

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Introduction

Climates and ecosystems all around the world are being impacted more and more by global warming and climate change. The melting of glaciers, ecosystem changes, global warming, and an increase in climate extremes are only a few of the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. This increase in CO2 levels and temperature combination is additionally anticipated to have a wide range of possible effects, including consequences on human life, sea level rise, ocean acidification, ecosystem disruption, and changes to weather patterns. High northern latitudes appear to be more affected by climate change than other regions, with proportionately higher sea and land temperatures and related effects. The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) emphasises this by stating that the yearly.

For the years 1971–2019, the Arctic experienced a surface temperature rise that was three times greater than the global average. Over the past few decades, an increase in precipitation has also been noted, especially during the colder months. There are still many people who believe that the effects of climate change are issues that are somehow remote, either in space or time, despite the fact that there are obvious signals of change and an increasing number of studies revealing unmistakable alterations. There is room for more and better climate change communication because of this detachment from the issue. The European Social Survey conducted between 2016 and 2017 found that over 90% of Icelanders felt that climate change is occurring and is, at least in part, being caused by humans. Iceland is an island that is located just south of the Arctic Circle. However, a different study that involved interviewing Icelanders discovered that almost all of the participants saw climate change as a problem that will affect future generations rather than themselves. Despite having a high awareness of climate change, Iceland's overall equivalent CO2 emissions only slightly decreased between 2009 and 2019, with industrial process emissions rising during this time. As a result, numerous studies advise integrating a local viewpoint on climate change to encourage public participation. A decrease in psychological distance boosts intentions to participate in carbon mitigation actions.

This demonstrates the value of neighborhood gatherings for citizen engagement and communication about climate change. participation in these discussions. In order to identify potential local effects and help local societies and their inhabitants better adjust to these shifting realities, it is crucial to understand how such changes are happening locally. With a focus on the Westfjords region in northwest Iceland, this essay aims to investigate climate change locally and evaluate its effects on the existing physical, biological, and social systems. Due to its proximity to the Arctic Circle, Iceland is likely to experience the effects of climate change more and more in the future. According to research, Iceland's climate has significantly changed during the past few decades. According to research by Crochet and Jóhannesson (2011), the average temperature between the years 1991 and 2000 and 2001 and 2010 was up to 1.25 °C warmer than it was between 1961 and 1990. Similarly to this, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO), there was a warming trend between 1980 and 2016 of 0.47 °C per decade. The livelihood of many locations in Iceland, particularly in the more dispersed communities like those in the Westfjords, will be impacted by ongoing changes that will disrupt some of the nation's core businesses, including as fishing, aquaculture, agriculture, and tourism. Potential modifications to fisheries The most current IPCC report discusses dangers for the Arctic and other regions of the world, including catches and infrastructure damage due to climate change.

Even if carbon emissions were to significantly decrease or stop altogether, there is already a degree of warming that is clearly caused by human activity that will last throughout the next century. As a result, the IPCC examines both adaptation tactics for coping with these hazards as well as the risks associated with climate change. It is thought that the window of opportunity for successful adaptation measures to climate change is closing for several ecosystems, particularly some arctic ecosystems. Consequently, the primary goal of this essay is to describe the temporal and spatial variations in temperature and precipitation in ln the Westfjords region and assess their effects on the area's viability by: (i) determining whether changes in local temperature and precipitation patterns over the past few decades can be detected; (ii) determining whether the detected changes are consistent with regional, national, or international observations and climate predictions; and (iii) developing a thematic point map to depict the potential effects of climate change on the Westfjords region.

Iceland is located on the active geological boundary between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Ridge, in the centre of the North Atlantic Ocean. The Westfjords region is located at the northwesterlymost point of the nation, roughly between latitudes 65 and 66 N and longitudes 21 and 24 W.It occupies around 9000 km2, or less than 9%, of Iceland's total land area. The surroundings are rugged with little lowlands, steep slopes, and small fjords. Sea level to 998 m is the elevation range. One glacier, Drangajökull, is in the northern region and is about 140 km2 in size. Since the turn of the century, it has been retreating. 200 km2 or so at that time. At higher elevations, moss heaths and non-vegetated habitats predominate, whereas grass, heath, and scrublands make up the majority of the limited vegetation cover. The Westfjords region is significant for many populations of subarctic flora and fauna despite its sparse vegetation cover.

These include the only native land mammal of Iceland, the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), and a lot of bird cliffs that are crucial sea bird breeding grounds.There are numerous non-commercially important s and commercially significant fish stocks in the nearby oceans, including cod and halibut. The area experiences a subpolar oceanic climate, which is high in winds and precipitation frequency yet rather pleasant for such a high latitude. The reported mean temperature range for Iceland for places below 400 m in 2007 was 2 ºC to 9ºC, with July being the warmest and January being the coldest month. To the best of our knowledge, no long-term climate observations with a focus on the Westfjords have been documented in the literature. Nevertheless, the area is susceptible to disruptions from extreme weather, including snow avalanches, landslides, slush flows, rock falls, and debris flows. As of the first of January 2022, there were 7205 people, or nearly 2% of the Icelandic population. The majority of settlements are along the seaside. Safjörur, the largest town in the area, serves as a service hub for many of the smaller settlements in the area and has 2730 persons as of the first of January 2022. Agriculture and fishing have been the main industries of the Westfjords region for generations, however both have been steadily declining in recent years. Aquaculture and tourism have been viewed as helpful for the region's rural development over the past ten years. The fjords, which offer decent shelter for the cages, are used by the majority of aquaculture businesses to run their open-sea cages. Earlier than COVID-19 pandemic, 10.7% of international visitors.

The Westfjords were visited by Iceland. The natural world is a big draw for tourists, including bird watching, horseback riding, biking, hiking, and simply taking a scenic drive. All types of adventure and sports tourism, including sea angling, kayaking, climbing, mountaineering, mountain biking, and cross-country skiing, have seen remarkable growth over the past few years. Prior to COVID-19, the cruise industry had the fastest growth and attracted the most tourists to the Westfjords. There were 126 cruises that visited Safjörur in 2019. 26 people visited Patreksfjörur, compared to 1 in 2015, and 61 people travelled there in 2015. The Icelandic Meteorological Office's 37 registered weather stations in the West-133 fjords region provided the data. The stations have operated for varied lengths of time and measure a variety of factors. Most of them are coastal and low-lying In the Westfjords, 91% of the land is higher than 50 metres in elevation. Only four of the stations used are above 50 m because the majority of the weather stations are positioned close to populated areas. If 8 out of 10 years of recordings were available, n was deemed to have covered a full decade. This is in accordance with World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recommendations, which state that data must be accessible for 80% of the years during the averaging period before a mean can be calculated. Overall, data on temperatures and precipitation were gathered from 28 different stations, and 27 different stations provided the data on temperatures.