A systematic global stocktake of evidence on human adaptation to climate changeAssessing global progress on human adaptation to climate change is an urgent priority. Although the literature on adaptation to climate change is rapidly expanding, little is known about the actual extent of implementation. We systematically screened >48,000 articles using machine learning methods and a global network of 126 researchers. Our synthesis of the resulting 1,682 articles presents a systematic and comprehensive global stocktake of implemented human adaptation to climate change. Documented adaptations were largely fragmented, local and incremental, with limited evidence of transformational adaptation and negligible evidence of risk reduction outcomes. We identify eight priorities for global adaptation research: assess the effectiveness of adaptation responses, enhance the understanding of limits to adaptation, enable individuals and civil society to adapt, include missing places, scholars and scholarship, understand private sector responses, improve methods for synthesizing different forms of evidence, assess the adaptation at different temperature thresholds, and improve the inclusion of timescale and the dynamics of responses.

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We present the first systematic, global stocktake of the academic literature on human adaptation. We screen 48,316 documents and identify 1,682 articles that present empirical research documenting human efforts to reduce risk from climate change and associated hazards. Coding and synthesizing this literature highlights that the overall extent of adaptation across global regions and sectors is low. Adaptations are largely local and incremental rather than transformative. Behavioural adjustments by individuals and households are more prevalent than any other type of response, largely motivated by drought and precipitation variability. Local governments and civil society are engaging in risk reduction across all sectors and regions, particularly in response to flooding. Urban technological and infrastructural adaptations to flood risk are prevalent in Europe, while shifts in farming practices dominate reporting from Africa and Asia. Despite increasing evidence of adaptation responses, evidence that these responses are reducing risks (observed and projected) remains limited.

Annually laminated (varved) sediments from Sanagak Lake in the Canadian middle Arctic were used to reconstruct past spring discharge. Two years of sediment transport observations demonstrate that sediment delivery in this nival regime is limited primarily to the short period of maximum discharge. Interannual variability in catchment snow water equivalence (SWE) was the primary control over the length of the peak discharge period, resulting in substantially increased sediment transport and deposition in the lake in years with higher SWE. Analysis of annual sediment accumulation reveals high interannual variability with a persistent 64–80 year frequency as well as a prominent decline, particularly since 1820 AD. These spectral results suggest a linkage between the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) and snowfall conditions through persistence of the characteristic frequency since 1550 AD.