ABSTRACT
Adaptation to climate change is not usually a priority issue in most countries; this has largely been attributed to a lack of adequate and unambiguous information on the specific future impacts of climate change, especially at regional and local scales. In developing countries, adaptation is further hindered by the relative absence of social and institutional practices of long-range planning. The only exceptions are cases where there is some certainty about the direction of future trends; for example, sea level rise. In contrast, the issue of climate variability is better understood and so far much scientific research has been directed towards understanding adaptation to climate variability in the hopes of drawing important lessons that can inform adaptation to climate change in the future.
