Introduction

This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part presents the concepts of risk, adaptation, and resilience, with a special focus on social vulnerability. The concept of "climate gap" is introduced highlighting the impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities of color and low socio-economic status as well as how to close this gap. The concept of social-ecological resilience in coastal contexts is then discussed to demonstrate that the synergy between communities and their land can lead to resilient and sustainable results when faced with extreme events. The part also highlights beneficial lessons on climate adaptation from indigenous peoples' traditional knowledge and collective memory in responding to impacts of change on social-ecological systems. Social vulnerability and its causes are then introduced with a focus on spatial distribution across the USA. Climate variability increases risk, regardless of the existing levels of exposure and vulnerability, and hinders future planning due to uncertainty of events.