Adaptation and attitudes to global warming

Adapting to rising seas and floods

• Netherlands (developed): after the 1953 floods, the Delta Works and now the Delta Programme. As much as 60% of the country could end up under water. An average of 1.25 billion euros a year is earmarked for the Delta Fund up to 2032 (Government of the Netherlands).
• Bangladesh (developing): community cyclone shelters, raised embankments around polders and the Cyclone Preparedness Program. A World Bank project (US$375 million IDA credit) targeted 552 new and 450 rehabilitated shelters; 166 new and 370 rehabilitated had been completed by 2022, and the government estimates over 7,000 multipurpose shelters are needed across 19 coastal districts (World Bank, 2022).

Hard engineering is costly, needs maintenance and can fail; it is affordable for some places but not others.

Adapting farming

• Irrigation and water storage (small dams, rainwater harvesting).
• Changing crops or planting dates; drought-resistant varieties.
• Soil and water conservation, agroforestry.

These need investment, training and secure land rights, which many subsistence producers lack.

Attitudes and opportunities

• Attitudes vary between groups: governments of low-lying island states see an existential threat; some fossil-fuel producers and businesses fear the cost of action; environmental NGOs push for faster cuts; public opinion differs within countries.
• Some see opportunity in high latitudes such as the Arctic: longer growing seasons, new shipping routes as sea ice retreats, and access to minerals, oil and gas, though these also bring environmental risks.
• Global warming is not universally accepted as real or as a threat.

Worked example

Compare the ability of the Netherlands and Bangladesh to adapt to sea-level rise.

1. Both are low-lying deltas exposed to storm surges and river floods.
2. The Netherlands funds about 1.25 billion euros a year of flood measures from its own budget.
3. Bangladesh relies partly on international loans for shelters and still needs thousands more.

Answer: Similar exposure, but the Netherlands has far greater capacity to pay for adaptation.

Check yourself

1. The Delta Fund averages 1.25 billion euros a year. How much is that over 10 years, in billions of euros?
   Show answer

   12.5 billion euros. 1.25 x 10 = 12.5 billion euros.

2. The Bangladesh project targeted 552 new shelters and had completed 166 by 2022. What percentage was complete? Give your answer to 1 decimal place.
   Show answer

   30.1 %. 166 / 552 x 100 = 30.1%.

3. Which is an adaptation rather than mitigation?
   • Introducing a carbon tax
   • Replacing coal power with wind farms
   • Building cyclone shelters
   • Planting forests to absorb CO2
   Show answer

   Building cyclone shelters. Adaptation reduces harm from climate change; the others cut emissions or add sinks.

4. Which is an economic opportunity some see in a warming Arctic?
   • Thicker sea ice for fishing
   • New shipping routes as sea ice retreats
   • Cooler summers for tourism
   • More permafrost for building
   Show answer

   New shipping routes as sea ice retreats. Retreating ice opens routes and resources.

5. Governments of low-lying small island states tend to view global warming as
   • an economic opportunity
   • a hoax
   • a problem only for the Arctic
   • an urgent, even existential, threat
   Show answer

   an urgent, even existential, threat. Sea-level rise threatens their territory.

6. Explain why subsistence farmers may be unable to adapt to a drier climate.
   Show answer

   Adaptations such as irrigation or drought-resistant seeds need money and training, which poor subsistence farmers do not have.. Adaptations need investment they cannot afford.

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Sources

• Pearson Edexcel International Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced Level in Geography specification (Issue 3, September 2025)
• Government of the Netherlands: Delta Programme, flood safety, freshwater and spatial adaptation
• World Bank results brief: Shelter from the storm, Bangladesh's coastal communities (29 August 2022)

Last updated 8 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.