International Research Fellowship Program: Disaster Preparedness and Response in Central Mexico: Towards an Adaption Baseline

[04:39 . 39]国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行3至24个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并利用独特或互补的设施、专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将支持Hallie C. Eakin博士与墨西哥墨西哥城墨西哥国立自治大学的Victor Magana博士和英国牛津大学的Diana Liverman博士开展为期22个月的研究，研究墨西哥中部的备灾和救灾工作，以建立适应基线。在气候变化研究中，适应是一个相对较新的主题，迄今为止，很少有国家采取具体步骤，通过适应活动来减轻未来的脆弱性。联合国正在牵头帮助发展中国家启动适应气候变化的努力，鼓励各国开始评估如何管理当前的气候风险和损失。在联合国倡议的框架内，该项目将以2003年9月墨西哥中西部大范围洪水的影响为例，探讨公民和公共机构目前如何认识和规划气候风险，并评估私人和公共机构对危机的反应。该项目将采用定性和定量方法记录洪水背景下国家与民间社会之间的关系，在灾害规划和准备中使用科学信息，以及公共部门和公民的反应对区域经济的影响以及未来对类似气候灾害的脆弱性。

0401939EakinThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-two-month research fellowship by Dr. Hallie C. Eakin to work with Dr. Victor Magana at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico and with Dr. Diana Liverman at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom on disaster preparedness and response in Central Mexico, towards an adaptation baseline.Adaptation is a relatively new topic in climate change research and as yet there are few nations that have taken concrete steps to mitigate future vulnerability through adaptive activities. The United Nations is leading an effort to help developing nations initiate adaptation efforts, encouraging nations to begin with an evaluation of how current climatic risks and losses are managed. Within the framework of the U.N. initiative, this project will use a case study of the impact of widespread flooding in west-Central Mexico in September 2003 to explore how citizens and public institutions currently perceive and plan for climate risks and to assess both private and public responses to the crisis. The project will use both qualitative and quantitative methods to document the relationship between the state and civil society in the context of the floods, the use of scientific information in disaster planning and preparedness, and the implications of both the public sector and citizens' responses for the regional economy and future vulnerability to similar climatic hazards.