What is the difference between adaptation limits and adaptation capacity?

• A. Adaptation capacity is a threshold.
• B. Adaptation limits are a threshold.
• C. Both mean the same.
• D. Adaptation limits are thresholds beyond which adaptation cannot proceed; adaptation capacity is the ability to implement adaptation actions.

Answer: (D)

Think of adaptation as the set of actions aimed at reducing harm from climate change. Adaptation limits are the boundaries where further adjustments just aren’t feasible or would cause unacceptable outcomes—physical, economic, or social. They mark where you can no longer proceed in the intended direction of adaptation. For example, if rising seas overwhelm all feasible defenses and relocation options are impractical or impossible, you’ve hit an adaptation limit.

Adaptation capacity, on the other hand, is the ability to carry out adaptation actions. It encompasses resources, institutions, knowledge, governance, financing, technology, and social coordination that enable you to plan, fund, implement, and adjust adaptation strategies. High capacity means you can mobilize these elements to act, even as conditions change.

So, the best description distinguishes between a limit as a boundary beyond which action can’t proceed and capacity as the actual ability to implement actions. The other notions either incorrectly label capacity as a threshold or imply the two concepts are the same.