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The dangers of disaster-driven responses to climate change

Low-probability, high-consequence climate change events are likely to trigger management responses that are based on the demand for immediate action from those affected. However, these responses may be inefficient and even maladaptive in the long term.

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Acknowledgements

We thank C. Diamond and L. Wolf for their assistance. This work was supported by NSF Hazards SEES: Land Management Strategies for Confronting Risks and Consequences of Wildfire (EAR-1520847), a grant from the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center and the Strategic Environmental Research Initiative at the Bren School, University of California, Santa Barbara. It was also supported by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University Adaptation to Climate Change Workshop, where we received thoughtful comments. We appreciate feedback from the University of Colorado Boulder Climate Conference, S. Stevenson, M. Burgess and S. Jasechko.

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All authors conceived of the work. M.W. analysed the data. All authors drafted and revised the paper.

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Correspondence to Sarah E. Anderson.

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Anderson, S.E., Bart, R.R., Kennedy, M.C. et al. The dangers of disaster-driven responses to climate change. Nature Clim Change 8, 651–653 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0208-8

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