Dr Adelle Thomas
Senior Caribbean Research Associate
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Adelle is Senior Caribbean Research Associate for the IMPACT project and part of the Science team. Her particular focus is on aspects of social vulnerability, adaptation strategies and loss and damage.
Since November 2019, Adelle is also Director of the newly established Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Research Centre at the University of the Bahamas. Prior to joining Climate Analytics, Adelle was an Assistant Professor at University of The Bahamas and Director of the Climate Change Initiative there. As a human-environment geographer, she is interested in the particular vulnerabilities and adaptation potentials for small island developing states. Adelle has worked for several years on intersections between climate change adaptation, environmental protection and development. Her research has centered on varying aspects of adaptation and social vulnerability including examining the potential of insurance as an adaptation strategy; knowledge, awareness and perception of the public about climate change; assessing opportunities, barriers and limits to adaptation; and challenges facing small islands in managing loss and damage.
Adelle is an lead author in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report and the Special Report on 1.5°C, and has authored a variety of academic publications and has also provided scientific services to a number of organisations including the Global Environment Facility, Inter-American Development Bank, International Maritime Organization and national institutions in the USA and Bahamas. Adelle obtained a PhD in Geography from Rutgers University (2012) and a BS in Civil Engineering from University of Minnesota and Macalester College (2005).
A list of Adelle’s publications can be found here.
Blog posts
- Climate change and small islands: more scientific evidence of high risks Adelle Thomas, Rose Martyr-Koller, Patrick Pringle , 01 July 2020
- Black Lives Matter: the link between climate change and racial justice Adelle Thomas, Rueanna Haynes, 22 June 2020
- Coronavirus underscores small islands' climate vulnerability Adelle Thomas, 17 April 2020
- Power structures over gender make women more vulnerable to climate change Adelle Thomas, 08 March 2020
- Home by the sea: new science shows more sea-level rise impacts on small islands Rosanne Martyr-Koller, Adelle Thomas, Alex Nauels, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, 28 November 2019
- The building blocks for vital climate adaptation in small islands Patrick Pringle, Adelle Thomas, 28 May 2019
- Key Messages for Small Island Developing States from the IPCC 1.5°C Special Report Adelle Thomas, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, 06 December 2018
- US report brings warnings for island nations Adelle Thomas, 03 December 2018
- Small Islands and 1.5°C- A Special Issue in Regional Environmental Change Adelle Thomas, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, 20 November 2018
- Making use of latest science in adaptation planning Delphine Deryng, Adelle Thomas, Kouassigan Tovivo, 27 July 2018
- Adaptation Futures - a spotlight on climate adaptation in developing countries Maria Bertrand, Inga Menke, Adelle Thomas, Kouassigan Tovivo, Delphine Deryng, 10 July 2018
- Credit ratings and climate risk: a financial trap for small island states Adelle Thomas, 09 May 2018
- Authors from vulnerable nations in IPCC reports Adelle Thomas, 07 May 2018
- How to ensure solutions really work – key questions for the Suva Expert Dialogue on Loss and Damage Olivia Serdeczny, Inga Menke, Adelle Thomas, 02 May 2018
- A year of climate extremes: a case for Loss & Damage at COP23 Dr. Bill Hare, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, Olivia Serdeczny, Fahad Saeed, Adelle Thomas, 01 November 2017
- Island states need better data to manage climate losses Adelle Thomas, 23 August 2017
Publications
- Peer reviewed
- Overcoming gender inequality for climate resilient development Marina Andrijevic, Jesus Crespo Cuaresma, Tabea Lissner, Adelle Thomas, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner , Nature Communications, 11, Article number: 6261 (2020) , doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19856-w, (2020)
- The human imperative of stabilizing global climate change at 1.5°C O. Hoegh-Guldberg, D. Jacob, M. Taylor, T. Guillén Bolaños, M. Bindi, S. Brown, I. A. Camilloni, A. Diedhiou, R. Djalante, K. Ebi, F. Engelbrecht, J. Guiot, Y. Hijioka, S. Mehrotra, C. W. Hope, A. J. Payne, H.-O. Pörtner, S. I. Seneviratne, A. Thomas, R. Warren, G. Zhou, Science, (2019)
- 1.5°C Hotspots: Climate Hazards, Vulnerabilities, and Impacts Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, Delphine Deryng, Sarah D'haen, William Hare, Tabea Lissner, Mouhamed Ly, Alexander Nauels, Melinda Noblet, Peter Pfleiderer, Patrick Pringle, Martin Rokitzki, Fahad Saeed, Michiel Schaeffer, Olivia Serdeczny, Adelle Thomas, Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Vol. 43:135-163, doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-102017-025835, (2018)
- Perceptions of climate change risk in The Bahamas Thomas, A. and Benjamin, L.Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. Doi: 10.1007/s13412-017-0429-6, (2017)
- Management of loss and damage in small island developing states: Implications for a 1.5°C or warmer world Thomas, A. and Benjamin, L.Regional Environmental Change, L. Reg Environ Change, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-017-1184-7, (2017)
- Policies and mechanisms to address climate-induced migration and displacement in SIDS International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCCSM-03-2017-0055, (2017)
- 1.5°C TO STAY ALIVE?: AOSIS and the Long Term Temperature Goal in the Paris Agreement Benjamin, L. and Thomas, A.IUCNAEL eJournal, 7, (2016)
- Mass tourism, land use change and small hotels Thomas, A. Caribbean Geography, 21:22-44., (2016)
- Coastal economies in a changing climate: Impacts, risks and vulnerabilities Leichenko, R. and Thomas, A.Geography Compass 6(6): 327-339, (2012)
- Adaptation through insurance: Lessons from the National Flood Insurance Program Thomas, A. and Leichenko, R.International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management 3(3): 250-263, (2011)
- Briefing papers
- Loss and damage research for the global stocktake Adelle Thomas, Olivia Serdeczny, Patrick Pringle, Nature Climate Change, (2020)
- Towards a solid science base: loss and damage in the IPCC special reports Emily Theokritoff, Claire Fyson, Adelle Thomas, Olivia Serdeczny, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner (2019)
- Climate Adaptation and Theory of Change: Making it work for you Patrick Pringle, Adelle Thomas (2019)
- Loss and damage costing and financing mechanisms: Caribbean outlook Adelle Thomas, Inga Menke, and Olivia Serdeczny (2018)
- Debt for Climate Swaps: Caribbean Outlook Frances Fuller, Luis Zamarioli, Bianka Kretschmer, Adelle Thomas and Laetitia De Marez (2018)
- Tropical Cyclones: Impacts, the link to Climate Change and Adaptation Adelle Thomas, Patrick Pringle, Peter Pfleiderer, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner (2017)