Digital access is an important indicator for vulnerability and adaptive capacity to climate change because of the increasingly large role of telecommunications in all aspects of life. Digital access allows individuals and communities to access information on changing weather patterns, current events, disasters and early warning systems, as well as general information on agriculture and markets to facilitate adaptation. Digital access is also important during all phases of disaster response.

Worldwide, the number of people living on less than $1 per day--the international standard for extreme poverty--has dropped from 1.25 billion in 1990 to 986 million in 2004 (the latest year for which data were available at the time of publication).

This represents significant progress, given the population growth that occurred during this period.

In 1990, 29 percent of the global population lived below the $1 per day level; in 2004, that figure had dropped to 18 percent; nonetheless, some 2.6 billion people still struggle to make do at this marginal income level.

When adaptation is incorporated into development, rural communities and poor households have a better opportunity not only to survive a climate shock (coping), recover to where they once were (resilience), or endure the shock as if it were within their usual range of climate variation (adaptation). They also have an opportunity to improve their standards of living even as the climate changes (development).

Drawing on a set of case studies presented in WRI's report "Weathering the Storm," this figure indicates relatively little work is taking place on adaptation in the human health and energy sectors. These findings may indicate areas where additional work is needed.