title: Climate challenges, vulnerabilities, and food security.
abstract: This paper identifies rare climate challenges in the long-term history of seven areas, three in the subpolar North Atlantic Islands and four in the arid-to-semiarid deserts of the US Southwest. For each case, the vulnerability to food shortage before the climate challenge is quantified based on eight variables encompassing both environmental and social domains. These data are used to evaluate the relationship between the "weight" of vulnerability before a climate challenge and the nature of social change and food security following a challenge. The outcome of this work is directly applicable to debates about disaster management policy.
authors.affiliation: School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287; Barrett Honors College, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287; mnelson@asu.edu.
authors.forename: Margaret C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019;
authors.forename: Scott E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Ingram
authors.affiliation: School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, Scotland, United Kingdom;
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Dugmore
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9AL, Scotland, United Kingdom;
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Streeter
authors.affiliation: School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287;
authors.forename: Matthew A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Peeples
authors.affiliation: Anthropology Department, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY 10065;
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: McGovern
authors.affiliation: School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287;
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hegmon
authors.affiliation: Department for Danish Middle Ages and Renaissance, National Museum, DK-1220 Copenhagen, Denmark;
authors.forename: Jette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arneborg
authors.affiliation: School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287;
authors.forename: Keith W
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9821-3634
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Kintigh
authors.affiliation: Anthropology Department, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY 10065;
authors.forename: Seth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brewington
authors.affiliation: School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287;
authors.forename: Katherine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Spielmann
authors.affiliation: Biological and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland, United Kingdom;
authors.forename: Ian A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.affiliation: National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309;
authors.forename: Colleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Strawhacker
authors.affiliation: Transport for London, London SW1H 0TL, United Kingdom;
authors.forename: Laura E L
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Comeau
authors.affiliation: School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287;
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torvinen
authors.affiliation: Department for Danish Middle Ages and Renaissance, National Museum, DK-1220 Copenhagen, Denmark;
authors.forename: Christian K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Madsen
authors.affiliation: Anthropology Department, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20817.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hambrecht
authors.affiliation: Anthropology Department, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY 10065;
authors.forename: Konrad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Smiarowski
mesh_terms: D002980:Climate; D057231:Climate Change; D005523:Food Supply; D006801:Humans; D012922:Social Change
keywords: climate challenge; disaster management; history; prehistory; vulnerability