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Adaptation and mitigation refer to the strategies which are indicative of climatic changes occurring in the environment. Mitigation enables tackling the pertinent reasons of climate change, whereas adaptation enables tackling the effects of those climatic changes. Furthermore, adaptation is the adjustment in response to climate change and mitigation is human intervention to reduce the sources of emission of greenhouse gases, thus enabling the cause of preventing an excessive increase in Earth’s temperatures.
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Key Takeaways: Adaptation, Mitigation, Gene Mutation, Natural Selection, Habitat, Greenhouse Gases
What is Adaptation?
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Adaptation is those physical or behavioural changes which ultimately aids an organism to survive better in its surrounding environment as well as the subsequent changes which occur in that environment.
Adaptation in polar bears to withstand extreme cold temperatures.
Living beings adapt to the habitat they live in. This is because they have certain special features that help them to survive in those particular conditions. The development of these special features with respect to changing environmental conditions is the result of evolution which occurs due to a phenomenon called gene mutation. These mutations aid in survival as well as further reproduction which aids in passing the mutations from one generation to the other.
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The following are the various types of adaptations which are observed in nature:
Structural Adaptations
These involve adaptations in the physical features of an organism that help them to survive in their changing environments including the different types of terrestrial habitats which the organism might be exposed to.
Structural adaptations
These physical changes which are observed are related to the changes in the physical environment of the organism. For instance, camouflaging, which is the changes in the colouration of the skin of the organism that helps it to blend in its environment, protects it from predators as well as increases its chances of survival in the wild. Other examples of structural adaptations include the blubber of a whale, the beak of a woodpecker and so on.
Physiological Adaptations
These adaptations also involve physical changes in the species like structural adaptations. However, the accompanying physiological adaptations are not always visible in the appearance of the organism.
Physiological adaptations due to environment
This type of adaptation can either be due to variations in the environment or due to the behavior of other species which the organism interacts with. For instance, a fish living in freshwater suddenly becomes more acidic and has to undergo physiological adaptations to survive in an acidic environment.
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Behavioral Adaptations
Behavorial adaptations are those changes which affect the behavior of an organism. These changes could be caused either due to the changes in the organism’s surrounding environment or due to the actions of other species.
For instance, the rabbit freezes if it feels that it has been detected by a predator. Moreover, changes in the organism’s reproductive strategies, feeding habits, migration, hibernation, communication methods are also a few other examples of behavioral adaptations.
Examples of adaptive evolution in organisms
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Importance of Adaptation
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The process of adaptation is one of the essential mechanisms which aids in the survival of the living organisms. Those animals which are unable to adapt to changing environmental variations ultimately die. These adaptations occur as a result of genetic changes in the organism. This is also known as natural selection.
For instance, adaptations such as camouflage and colouration protects the organisms from predators. Moreover, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) mutations help in the extended survival of animals in dangerous environments and these traits of survival are passed onto future generations.
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Charles Darwin, who propounded the theory of evolution, studied turtles of two islands. Darwin observed that those turtles which were living on one island had relatively shorter legs, straight shells and took food which was present nearer to the ground. Due to certain factors, a few of these turtles migrated to another island, wherein the food was much higher up. Darwin observed that in the second island, only those turtles who had longer legs survived. Furthermore, their necks elongated and their shells became rounded over the course of time. Thus, the population on the new island grew with these adaptations in their species in order to survive the changing environment.
Adaptations due to changing environment
Theory of Adaptation
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The theory of adaptation was proposed by Charles Darwin. His theory states that only those organisms which are able to adapt to their changing environments will be able to survive and the rest will ultimately be eliminated from the planet. This theory is also known as “survival of the fittest”.
According to the adaptation theory, the different outcomes that occur due to habitat changes are as follows:
- Habitat Tracking: This is when a species finds another similar environment to which it has inhabited before.
- Extinction: When the species is unable to find a suitable environment in which it can grow or survive, it dies and eventually the species becomes extinct.
- Genetic Change: It occurs when an organism with even minute genetic changes are overall better adapted to the changed habitat with better access to resources and mating partners.
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What is Mitigation?
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Mitigation is the process of making those changes which impacts the climatic variations less severely by preventing or reducing the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere.
Mitigation for Climate Change
Mitigation is obtained either by reducing the number of sources of these GHGs, such as by increasing the use of renewable energies, or establishing a cleaner mobility system, or, by enhancing the storage of these gases by increasing the sinks, for instance, by increasing the size of forests. In summation, mitigation is a total human intervention that enables the reduction of either the sources of GHG emissions and/or enhances the sinks for their absorption.
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Differences Between Adaptation and Mitigation
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The key differences between adaptation and mitigation are as follows:
| Adaptation | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| It is the strategy devised by the organisms to adjust with the changing environments, majorly with respect to climatic changes. | It is the strategy which is used to reduce the impact of changes related to climatic variations. |
| It is region-specific and is more localized. | It is more of a global phenomenon and not localized. |
| These represent long-term strategies. | These represent short-term strategies. |
| Adaptation involves taking specific and appropriate measures in order to prevent the effects which come along with climate changes. | Mitigation involves the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases. |
| Measures such as effective utilization of water, building of barriers for flood, development of drought-resistant crops and so on can be also taken. | Measures such as using newer technologies, using cleaner energy resources, enabling the older technologies to be more efficient will aid in the process of mitigation. |
Mitigation along with adaptation aids in tackling the issue of climatic changes.
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Things to Remember
- Mitigation and adaptation strategies aid in indicating climatic changes occurring on the Earth.
- Mitigation tackles the issues responsible for climatic change whereas adaptation tackles the after-effects of such changes.
- Theory of adaptation was propounded by Charles Darwin. It states that an organism that is able to adapt to its changing environment will ultimately survive and those that cannot, will perish.
- Mitigation involves reducing the flow of the heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere either by reducing the sources of these gases or by enhancing the sinks which accumulate and store these gases.
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Sample Questions
Ques. Hummingbirds live among the bushes in the tropics while Penguins live on Icebergs. Can we interchange their habitat? Give reason for your choice. (2 Marks)
Ans. No, hummingbirds can’t survive in Polar regions. Since they have a large surface area relative to their volume, it makes them lose heat easily. Thus, they aren’t adapted to survive in a colder habitat.
However, in the case of penguins, they have a low body surface area and thus can prevent the escape of heat, making them easily adjusted to survive in the cold.
Ques. Plants in general need water from time to time but in deserts, where there are high temperatures and scarcity of water, some plants still survive and thrive. How? (2 Marks)
Ans. Certain plants are able to survive in harsh temperature conditions and habitats because they have found different ways to store water. It is done either in their roots, stems, or leaves, and are used when required. For instance, some plants possess thick waxy cuticles, some follow Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) while some have leaves modified into spines in order to reduce the loss of water via transpiration.
Ques. What are the differences between adaptations in plants and animals? (3 Marks)
Ans. Animals can move around environments for survival in comparison to plants. On the other hand, plants such as those in the desert have opportunistic traits of coming out from dormancy to reproductive stages during different climate changes.
Animals have a central nervous system (CNS) that enables them to respond swiftly to their environmental changes. In contrast, plants lack CNS but have other structural adaptations such as being firmly rooted on the ground, floating on water etc.
Ques. What is mitigation and various strategies which can be employed? (3 Marks)
Ans. Mitigation is the process of reducing the harmful effects on the environment. The following are some of the ways by which mitigation can be practised:
- Increasing the soil carbon storage through improved management.
- Restoration of peaty soils and damaged lands.
- Lowering of methane release in the environment.
- Improving fertilization techniques in order to reduce emissions.
Ques. What is the difference between adaptation and mitigation? (2 Marks)
Ans. Mitigation focuses on minimizing effects of something such as climate change and trying to lessen its impact. While adaptation is the process of making changes according to the changes occurring in the environment in order to survive.
Ques. Give examples of strategies for addressing food systems as they relate to climate change, including mitigative and adaptive strategies. (3 Marks)
Ans. One of the key strategies for mitigating and as well as adapting food is to utilize localized food. This will result in reducing emissions as well as increasing food security.
Mitigation Strategy: Changing food production strategies to lessen greenhouse gas emissions, for instance reducing the consumption of meat and animal products in order to reduce the resources being diverted to sustain animal farms.
Adaptation Strategy: Growing different crops in response to climatic changes, preparing ecologically for different kinds of pests which might spring up, moving food production areas from coastal areas to more secure areas and so on.
Ques. Discuss mitigation strategies for geo-engineering. (5 Marks)
Ans. The following are the different strategies employed:
- Pumping sulfate aerosols into the atmosphere to decrease earth's albedo.
- Putting up giant mirrors into space in order to reflect sunlight to decrease earth's albedo.
- Pumping iron into the ocean in order to stimulate algal growth which will ultimately result in absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Ques. What is structural mitigation? (3 Marks)
Ans. Mitigation strategies which are intended to physically impact the environment in such a way so as to either prevent or lessen future impacts from a particular risk(s) are referred to as structural mitigation. Some of the structural mitigation strategies are building of dams, levees, blast resistant windows, concrete barriers, elevations, building codes, planned environment and so on.
Ques. What is non-structural mitigation? (3 Marks)
Ans. Non-structural mitigation refers to the actions which the general public can take in order to reduce the impacts of hazards in a particular area. Some of such strategies are often less expensive than structural mitigation. Construction of flood zones, cancelling or delaying outdoor functions such as soccer or baseball games if heavy rains have or might occur in an area, development of building codes, land use planning, insurance, relocation or buyouts and so on.
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