Steps have to be taken and the sooner the better to limit damage from consequences of global warming that are now inevitable.

Adaptation and planning are needed.

Since major effects from climate change now appear inevitable, it is vital for countries and communities to take practical steps to protect themselves from the likely disruption and damage that will result. This is known in international jargon as adaptation. In some cases, it's hard to know what to do how do you stop encroaching oceans? and so strategies and technologies have to be developed. But the greater difficulties are psychological and political.

Prevention calls for overriding human nature and politicians' instincts. It is difficult to take expensive and painful measures when in any given place people don't know exactly what's coming, exactly when, and how bad it will be. For example, flood walls should be built and in numerous cases it is probably advisable to move human settlements out of flood plains and other low-lying areas, but how high should the walls be and where should people be moved? Even in the case of much more specific threats, it takes brave public officials and stoic populations to act in advance of problems, even though that almost always works better than reacting desperately in times of crises.

Few practical precautions against climate change have been taken to date, although the need is urgent. Efforts are at least going forward in the form of assessments and studies measures that are politically palatable and possible at the moment. One approach that has proven valuable is to focus on vulnerability rather than on the still-uncertain extent of the danger posed by climate change. It is vital, in other words, to know who is going to need help, whatever climate difficulties arise. Further rational decisions can be made and plans developed based on this important information.

A number of countries also are carrying out research. Over the last decade, for example, predictions of the impacts of climate change have grown much more detailed and accurate. As that process advances, and as efficient methods for adapting are devised, it will become more politically and economically feasible to take specific precautions.

In 1997, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, new funds were set up to support adaptation. A Special Climate Change Fund was established in 2001 to finance projects relating to adaptation. A Least Developed Countries Fund is intended to enable the world's poorer nations to carry out "national adaptation programmes of action." And an Adaptation Fund was established under the Kyoto Protocol to support the implementation of concrete adaptation projects and programmes.

Flexibility is a valuable tool. It is a sensible way of planning ahead in the agricultural sector, for example, to grow a variety of crops, some of which may be viable in times of climate flux, rather than investing in a single crop that may be felled by a drought or a heat wave. It is useful to determine which crops will be profitable and will grow well in warmer temperatures or a drier climate, if that is what is predicted for a given region. The European Union has encouraged farmers to practice flexibility in land use and crop production. It also has suggested modifying subsidy and incentive programmes to influence farm operation and management in ways that will better cope with climate change.

Rational decisions about the safe location of new facilities and infrastructure is a valuable, cost-effective step governments and industries can take now and in coming years. It is better to put future electrical-generating plants, train lines, major roads, and hospitals, not to mention houses, in spots where more intense storms and floods won't damage or destroy them.

One benefit of the generally difficult process of adaptation is that some measures will have positive effects regardless of what happens with climate change. Restoring tree cover, wetlands, and grasslands to prevent erosion and to lessen damage from storms and floods will help people even when normal storms occur and also will provide sanctuary for wildlife and have aesthetic and recreational benefits. Similarly, setting up evacuation plans and medical response systems for severe storms and floods can save lives when and if other catastrophes strike.

Source: http://unfccc.int/essential_background/feeling_the_heat/items/2911.php