• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.444-452
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• 2012

This study aims at assessing vulnerability of water quality and aquatic ecosystem to climate change by using proxy variables. Vulnerability to climate change is defined as a function of exposure to climate, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Detailed proxy variables were selected considering availability and then standardized by re-scaling concept. After adequate weights were assigned to standardized proxy variables by Delphi technique, vulnerability index was calculated. As results, vulnerability of adjacent regions to coastal areas include water quality and aquatic ecosystem is relatively higher than that of inland areas, and especially adjacent region to the western and southeast seas, and Jeju show high vulnerabilities. Vulnerability in the future was performed based on A1B scenario (IPCC, 2000). Temporally, the increase of vulnerability from 2050s to 2100s may be larger than the increase from 2000s to 2050s. Because vulnerability index was estimated through the relationship among various proxy variables, it is important to consider characteristics of local region with measurements and policies for reduction of sensitivity and enhancement of adaptive capacity on climate change. This study is expected to be useful in planning adaptation measures and selecting priority to the policy on climate change.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.37-48
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to assess the climate change vulnerability of coastal and offshore fisheries in the South Sea of Korea using the RCP scenarios. Based on the vulnerability defined by IPCC, the indicator-based method was applied. Exposure indicator was calculated through weighted sum of the sea temperature and salinity forecasted by National Institute of Fisheries Science, and the weights were obtained from the time-space distribution of each fisheries. Sensitivity indicator was determined by applying the catch proportion of fisheries to the sensitivity of fish species. The adaptive capacity was measured by survey of fisheries which represent the ability of the fishermen well. As a result of summarizing the above indicators, vulnerability of coastal fisheries is higher than offshore fisheries. This shows that measures against coastal fisheries are needed. In addition, the results of each scenario are somewhat different, so it is considered that accurate prediction of climate change is important for adaptation measures.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.22-38
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• 2012

Adaptation of climate change is necessary to avoid unexpected impacts of climate change caused by human activities. Vulnerability refers to the degree to which system cannot cope with impacts of climate change, encompassing physical, social and economic aspects. Therefore the quantification of climate change impacts and its vulnerability is needed to identify vulnerable regions and to setup the proper strategies for adaptation. In this study, climate change vulnerability is defined as a function of climate exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Also, we identified regions vulnerable to ozone due to climate change in Korea using developed proxy variables of vulnerability of regional level. 18 proxy variables are selected through delphi survey to assess vulnerability over human health sector for ozone concentration change due to climate change. Also, we estimate the weighting score of proxy variables from delphi survey. The results showed that the local regions with higher vulnerability index in the sector of human health are Seoul and Daegu, whereas regions with lower one are Jeollanam-do, Gyeonggi-do, Gwangju, Busan, Daejeon, and Gangwon-do. The regions of high level vulnerability are mainly caused by their high ozone exposure. We also assessed future vulnerability according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) A2, A1FI, A1T, A1B, B2, and B1 scenarios in 2020s, 2050s and 2100s. The results showed that vulnerability increased in all scenarios due to increased ozone concentrations. Especially vulnerability index is increased by approximately 2 times in A1FI scenarios in the 2020s. This study could support regionally adjusted adaptation polices and the quantitative background of policy priority as providing the information on the regional vulnerability of ozone due to climate change in Korea.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.240-246
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• 2017

Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the vulnerability of the human health sector to $PM_{10}$ due to climate change in Incheon over the period of 2005-2014. Methods: Vulnerability to $PM_{10}$ consists of the three categories of climate exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. The indexes for climate exposure and sensitivity indicate positive effects, while adaptive capacity shows a negative effect on vulnerability to $PM_{10}$. The variables in each category were standardized by the rescaling method, and respective relative regional vulnerability was analyzed through the vulnerability index calculation formula of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Results: Regions with a high exposure index were the western and northern urban areas with industrial complexes adjacent to a highway, including Bupyong-gu and Seo-gu. Major factors determining the climate exposure index were the $PM_{10}$ concentration, days of $PM_{10}$ >= $100{\mu}g/m^3$, and $PM_{10}$ emissions. The regions showing a high sensitivity index were urban regions with high populations; these commonly had a high mortality rate for related diseases and vulnerable populations. Conclusions: This study is able to support regionally adjusted adaptation policies and the quantitative background of policy priority since it provides information on the regional health vulnerability to $PM_{10}$ due to climate change in Incheon.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.189-197
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• 2021

Climate change effects are particularly apparent in many cool-season grasslands in South Korea. Moreover, the probability of climate extremes has intensified and is expected to increase further. In this study, we performed climate change vulnerability assessments in cool-season grasslands based on the analytic hierarchy process method to contribute toward effective decision-making to help reduce grassland damage caused by climate change and extreme weather conditions. In the analytic hierarchy process analysis, vulnerability was found to be influenced in the order of climate exposure (0.575), adaptive capacity (0.283), and sensitivity (0.141). The climate exposure rating value was low in Jeju-do Province and high in Daegu (0.36-0.39) and Incheon (0.33-0.5). The adaptive capacity index showed that grassland compatibility (0.616) is more important than other indicators. The adaptation index of Jeollanam-do Province was higher than that of other regions and relatively low in Gangwon-do Province. In terms of sensitivity, grassland area and unused grassland area were found to affect sensitivity the most with index values of 0.487 and 0.513, respectively. The grassland area rating value was low in Jeju-do and Gangwon-do Province, which had large grassland areas. In terms of vulnerability, that of Jeju-do Province was lower and of Gyeongsangbuk-do Province higher than of other regions. These results suggest that integrating the three aspects of vulnerability (climate exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity) may offer comprehensive and spatially explicit adaptation plans to reduce the impacts of climate change on the cool-season grasslands of South Korea.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.965-972
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• 2017

Assessment of vulnerability of water use to climate change include a variety of climate change scenarios. However, in most future vulnerability studies, only the climate change scenarios are used and not the future scenarios of social and economic indicators. Therefore, in this study, we applied the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) climate change scenario and Shared Socioeconomic reference Pathway (SSP) developed by IPCC to reflect the future. We selected indicators for estimating the vulnerability of water use, and indices were integrated with a multi-criteria decision making approach - Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). The indicator data utilized national statistics and reports, social and economic scenarios, and simulated results from the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model which reflects climate change scenario. Finally, we derived the rankings of water use vulnerability for the short-term future (2020) and mid-term future (2050) within the Han River watershed. Generally, considering climate change alone and considering climate change plus social and economic changes showed a similar spatial distribution. In the future scenarios, the watershed rankings were similar, but showed differences with SSP scenario in some watersheds. Therefore, considering social and economic changes is expected to contribute to more effective responses to climate change.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.813-818
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• 2018

In this paper, the assessment items were selected for water by drought, water quality by drought, and thermal diseases by heat wave. We described the selection background for these assessment items. and then we weighted the selected vulnerability assessment items. The vulnerability assessment procedures also describe the calculation methods applied in phases and the actual cases. The vulnerability assessment database was analyzed and a climate change vulnerability assessment system for heat waves and droughts using these vulnerability assessment procedures was designed.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.891-905
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• 2011

Climate vulnerability index is usually defined as a function of the climate exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity, which requires adequate selection of proxy variables of each variable. We selected and used 9 proxy variables related to climate exposure in the literature, and diagnosed the adequacy of them for application in Korean peninsula. The selected proxy variables are: four variables from temperature, three from precipitation, one from wind speed, and one from relative humidity. We collected climate data over both previous year (1981~2010) and future climate scenario (A1B scenario of IPCC SERES) for 2020, 2050, and 2100. We introduced the spatial and temporal diagnostic statistical parameters, and evaluated both spatial and time variabilities in the relative scale. Of 9 proxy variables, effective humidity indicated the most sensitive to climate change temporally with the biggest spatial variability, implying a good proxy variable in diagnostics of climate change vulnerability in Korea. The second most sensitive variable is the frequency of strong wind speed with a decreasing trend, suggesting that it should be used carefully or may not be of broad utility as a proxy variable in Korea. The A1B scenario of future climate in 2020, 2050 and 2100 matches well with the extension of linear trend of observed variables during 1981~2010, indicating that, except for strong wind speed, the selected proxy variables can be effectively used in calculating the vulnerability index for both past and future climate over Korea. Other local variabilities for the past and future climate in association with climate exposure variables are also discussed here.

• Journal of Korea Spatial Information System Society
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.63-69
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• 2009

Climate change has influenced on various sectors including ecosystem, water resource, natural hazards and health and so on. Thus, it is essential to more accurately assess climate change impact and prepare adaptation strategy. However, it is difficult to assess for climate change impact on various sectors with integrated form due to various data format by sectors. In this study, we prepared criteria and indicators for assessing climate change impact and integrated GIS based data which in correspond to indicators based on spatio-temporal information using GIS. Finally we suggest a guideline to assess vulnerability of each sectors to climate change based on integrated spatio-temporal information.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.64-70
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• 2016

This study assessed the flood vulnerability of Jeju-do depending on climate change using VESTAP. The results showed that the flood vulnerability of Jeju-do in the future (2020s, 2030s and 2040s) will increase continuously compared to the present time (2010s). In particular, the flood vulnerability of Jeju-si is expected to be higher than Seogwipo-si prior to 2030s. Conversely, the flood vulnerability of Seogwipo-si is expected to be higher than Jeju-si after 2030. These analysis results confirmed the characteristics of flood vulnerability between Seogwipo-si and Jeju-si and the growth of flood vulnerability entirely within Jeju-do.