Our Earth is warming. Earth's average temperature has risen by 1.5F over the past century, and is predictable to rise another 0.5 to 8.6F over the next hundred years. Small changes in the average temperature of the planet can translate to large and potentially dangerous shifts in climate and weather. Rising global temperatures have been accompanied by changes in weather and climate. Climate change, also called global warming, refers to the rise in average surface temperatures on Earth. An overwhelming scientific consensus maintains that climate change is due primarily to the human use of fossil fuels, which releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the air. The gases trap heat within the atmosphere, which can have a range of effects on ecosystems, including rising sea levels, severe weather events, and droughts that render landscapes more susceptible to wildfires. Greenhouse gases act like a blanket around Earth, trapping energy in the atmosphere and causing it to warm. This phenomenon is called the greenhouse effect and is natural and necessary to support life on Earth. However, the buildup of greenhouse gases can change Earth's climate and result in dangerous effects to human health and welfare and to ecosystems. By making choices that reduce greenhouse gas pollution, and preparing for the changes that are already underway, we can reduce risks from climate change. Our decisions today will shape the world our children and grandchildren will live in. Climate Change - Research and Technology for Adaptation and Mitigation provides an interdisciplinary view of how to prepare the ecological and socioeconomic systems to the reality of climate change. Scientifically sound tools are needed to predict its effects on regional, rather than global, scales, as it is the level at which socio-economic plans are designed and natural ecosystem reacts. This book describes a series of approaches and models to downscale the global predictions of climate change, evaluate its effects on biophysical systems and observe the changes as they occur. To reduce the magnitude of these changes, new ways of economic activity must be implemented.