Adaptation and mitigation are the two strategies that indicate climatic change. Mitigation tackles the causes of climate change, whereas adaptation tackles the effects. Adaptation is the adjustment in response to climate change. Mitigation uses human intervention to lessen potentially adverse consequences of hazards or to control potentially damaging events that have already occurred.
Let us look at the important difference between adaptation and mitigation.
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Adaptation vs Mitigation
The following are the important difference between adaptation and mitigation:
| Adaptation | Mitigation |
| It is the strategy to adjust to climatic change. | It is the strategy to reduce the impact of climate change. |
| It is localised and region-specific. | It is global and not localised. |
| These are long-term strategies. | These are short-term. |
| It involves taking appropriate measures to prevent the effects of climate change. | It involves the reduction of harmful effects of hazards and incidents that have already occurred. |
| The measures such as building flood barriers, effective utilisation of water, development of drought-resistant crops, etc. can be taken. | The major measures include using new technologies, clean energy resources, and making older technologies more energy efficient. |
However, there are issues involved in both processes. Mitigation is seen as a better option in comparison to adaptation. But mitigation is expensive. Executing the plans requires a lot of investment and most of the people and governments are not ready to pay. This creates problems.
Also Read: Environmental Issues
These were a few differences between adaptation and mitigation. To know more about the difference between adaptation and mitigation, keep visiting BYJU’S website.
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