Adapting to climate change and global change have become vital goals for all societies. These same societies are faced at times with unexpected meteorological phenomena that are becoming increasingly frequent and intense, including flooding, droughts and tornadoes. They are also having to wrestle with rising temperatures and the follow-on effects on the balance of ecosystems, the evolution of species, and animal and plant life, not to mention the development of human populations, their living conditions and social organisation. Although the capacity of ecosystems to adapt or convert has been demonstrated by studies on climate variations over time, the growing pace of some phenomena may well lead to a point of no return. In fact, with the global rise in temperature — caused by human activities in particular — we might already have reached this stage.