Strong (indeed, fundamental) and tight article on climate vulnerability by Laurie Goering, one of the best climate journos in the world. In her piece posted on Reuters AlterNet, Goering discusses the difficult the problem of measuring vulnerability to climate change in a way that can be useful for decision makers.

Which countries are going to suffer most from climate change? It’s a hard question to answer, as any U.N. climate negotiator can tell you.

But there’s now an excellent guide that suggests some answers. The Washington-based Global Adaptation Institute has released its annual look at climate vulnerability - a data-rich trove of interactive maps, statistical charts, rankings and other information on which countries are most naturally vulnerable, which suffer governance and other relevant problems, and which are making progress preparing for climate change.

The “readiness matrix”, for instance, suggests that Zimbabwe, Myanmar and Eritrea are the nations least prepared to deal with climate change, while Burundi and Central African Republic are the most intrinsically climate-vulnerable countries.

Read the rest at AlterNet