The Himalaya are experiencing the most drastic global climate change outside of the poles, with predicted temperature increases of 5–6°C, rainfall increases of 20–30%, and rapid melting of permanent snows and glaciers. We have established a 1500 km trans-Himalayan transect across Nepal, Bhutan, and the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP), China to document the effects of climate change on alpine plants and peoples. Data show that Himalayan alpine plants respond to environmental and climate change variables including elevation, precipitation, and biogeography. People use alpine plants mostly for medicines and grazing. Climate change threatens rare, endemic, and useful Himalayan plant species and is being monitored into the future. Mitigation of climate change in the Himalaya takes place, without conscious reference to climate change, through carbon negative livelihoods informed by traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) including conservation of sacred sites, afforestation, tree crops, and soil carbon sequestration through incorporation of mulch and manure.

In Canada's western Arctic climate change is driving rapid ecological changes. Ongoing and locally-driven environmental monitoring, in which systematic observations of environmental conditions are recorded and synthesized, is required to understand and respond to climate change and other human impacts. Indigenous peoples' traditional ecological knowledge is increasingly used as the basis for regional monitoring, as there is a need for detailed, place-specific information that is consistent with local ways of understanding and interacting with the environment. In this project, participatory multimedia mapping was used with Teetł'it Gwich'in land users and youth from Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories, Canada to record information about local environmental conditions and changes. Gwich'in monitors made trips on the land to document environmental conditions and changes using geotagged photo and video observations. Subsequently, land users provided detailed information about each observation in follow-up interviews, which were added to a web-based map displaying participants' photos and videos. In this paper, we present the outcomes from the first year of research, explore the diverse types of knowledge this approach can contribute to environmental monitoring, and identify areas of convergence between traditional ecological knowledge and scientific research in the Arctic. Our work shows that this approach can make an important contribution to monitoring environmental changes associated with climate change in a way that is locally relevant and culturally appropriate.

Shifting climate parameters and their rippling effects through social-ecological systems have altered the abilities of rural households and communities around the world to make livelihood decisions based on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). National and regional climate services are responding, but the information they provide may not meet local needs or concerns in an accessible format. Previous anthropological research suggests that integrating different knowledge systems to improve climate services, assist in local decision-making, and strengthen climate models remains problematic. To reduce or avoid some of these problems, a participatory, community-based environmental monitoring project was co-developed with residents of four rural Tanzanian communities. A field team brought in equipment and facilitated the training of local monitors, while communities chose the environmental sectors to monitor, collected and analyzed data, and evaluated the results in light of their local TEK. This interaction between scientists and participating community members highlights the value of knowledge co-production in making sense of environmental changes associated with climate that are observed and experienced at the local level. These activities also empowered communities to explore local climate adaptation and policy creation.

Agricultural management systems are found at the intersection between human societies and environmental dynamics. Traditional apple orchards are fruit production systems that were developed in Eurasia and transferred to many other regions around the world including a wide range of temperate to subtropical climates. We interviewed 255 long-term (20 years) apple orchard managers in nine European countries and seven other countries that were former colonies. Patterns and types of management observations were compiled to illustrate descriptive aspects of orchard manager's thinking. Observations and adaptive responses by orchard managers seem to share similarities that go beyond cultural and large-scale environmental differences. Orchard management systems appear to be adaptive responses by traditional orchardists not only for local environments but also for success in unknown, newly encountered environments and therefore might be expected to cope with climate change and functionally adapt to ecosystem variation due to that change.

Research to date on the relationship between climate change and agriculture has focused primarily on annual crops. Long-term perennial crops such as apple trees give researchers the opportunity to study a more longitudinal record of human-climate interactions. In Appalachia, one of the earliest orchard areas in the United States, many orchards have been run by single families for multiple generations, and oral histories contain climate information stretching back several decades or longer. We investigated folk crop varietal diversity in southern Appalachian orchards, grower observations and perceptions of environmental change, and the potential effects of climate change on apple diversity. Twenty-two orchardists were consulted in Appalachian North Carolina, using a combination of participant observation, free-listing exercises, in-depth semi-structured interviews, and benchmark socioeconomic surveys. We documented 450 apple ethnotaxa in 22 orchards. Our results show that although a majority of growers recognize increased climate variation and variability in annual and seasonal weather patterns, only a minority attribute those changes to human activity. The major environmental change of concern to orchardists in the study region is warmer winters and earlier springs, which can cause devastating losses to apple production. Current consumer and market trends are selecting away from diverse and potentially disease- and weather-resistant heirloom apple varieties toward modern commercial varieties that are highly susceptible to environmental change. Apple diversity is threatened in southern Appalachia as a result of multiple factors, yet maintaining high diversity levels may be a key adaptive strategy in the face of global climate change.

The Andean Tropics are among the mountain systems most affected by climate change. The most conspicuous effect is glacier recession. However, little is known about how rural populations perceive climatic change impacts or about how social-ecological systems respond to the effects of change. Here, I examine perceptions of climatic change and their effects on social-ecological systems in the Peruvian Southern Andes. Data from interviews and focus groups are used to explain institutional responses to climatic variability based upon perceived effects of climate change. Results show that people perceive glaciers shrinking, more frequent and intense extreme weather events, more extreme temperatures, and shortened rainy seasons. Their responses to these perceived changes range from wetland creation to agriculture calendar modification to irrigation adjustments. Such perceptions of change rely on personal observations and local knowledge, which inform responses; knowledge-based action characterizes resilient systems. This case study supports the conclusion that the resilience of social-ecological systems in the Peruvian Southern Andes is based upon local knowledge and institutions. Thus, strengthening institutions and fostering local knowledge renewal are crucial for systems' sustainability or transformation.

Local values and knowledge can be important components in creating robust climate change adaptation strategies for marginalized communities. Incorporating local values into the climate change planning process in a structured way and effectively using local knowledge not only improves the identification of priority actions for climate change adaptation, but also supports successful implementation. Much of climate change adaptation planning in recent years identifies actions derived from expert-driven vulnerability assessments and adaptation actions. Yet the values of each community influence how climate change impacts are perceived, and what adaptation actions are locally acceptable and will have local buy-in for implementation. Thus, it is important that planning incorporates local values if the goal is successful adaptation to climate change. This paper provides one approach for addressing this through a participatory, values-based process for climate change adaptation planning. The approach is contextualized through a case study of the Gitga'at Nation, located in northern coastal British Columbia, Canada, where key values were found to be culturally important food sources, culture, environmental resources, self-sufficiency, health, infrastructure to enable us to live well, and Gitga'at pride and cooperation. These values were used throughout the planning process to contextualize climate change impacts on Gitga'at members' way of life and to develop and evaluate adaptation actions. It is hoped that this case study provides further proof of the utility of values-based planning in the context of adaptation planning for marginalized communities.