Purpose of Review

This paper discusses three scientific frontiers that need to be advanced in order to support decision-makers and practitioners in charge of operational decisions and action on the design and implementation of concrete adaptation policies and actions. These frontiers refer to going beyond the (1) incremental vs. transformational and (2) maladaptation vs. adaptation dichotomies and to advancing knowledge on (3) adaptation measures’ effectiveness and roles in designing context-specific adaptation pathways.

Recent Findings

Dealing with adaptation to climate change on the ground often means answering three obvious but critical questions: what to do, where and when? These questions challenge the scientific community’s capacity to link conceptual advances (e.g. on transformative adaptation) and ground-rooted needs across sectors and regions (on solutions, governance arrangements, etc.).

Summary

We argue that the three abovementioned frontiers represent the most burning challenges to the Adaptation Science community to help addressing climate-related societal needs. We also demonstrate that they are intertwined as moving one frontier forward will facilitate moving the others forward.

中文翻译：

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气候变化适应科学前沿：推进设计适应路径指南

审查目的

本文讨论了需要推进的三个科学前沿，以支持负责设计和实施具体适应政策和行动的业务决策和行动的决策者和从业者。这些前沿指的是超越（1）渐进与变革和（2）适应不良与适应二分法，并推进关于（3）适应措施的有效性和在设计具体环境适应路径中的作用的知识。

最近的发现

实地应对气候变化的适应通常意味着回答三个明显但关键的问题：做什么、在哪里、何时？这些问题挑战了科学界将概念进步（例如变革性适应）与跨部门和地区的根深蒂固的需求（解决方案、治理安排等）联系起来的能力。

概括

我们认为，上述三个前沿领域代表了适应科学界帮助解决与气候相关的社会需求所面临的最紧迫的挑战。我们还证明，它们是相互交织的，因为推动一个领域的进步将有助于推动其他领域的进步。