As the impacts of climate change materialize around the world, the importance of good adaptation becomes even more urgent. Adaptation generally refers to actions and policies that effectively reduce vulnerability to climate change, and includes everything from small changes in behavior to large-scale infrastructure projects. However, adaptation is not always successful. There are ways in which it may fail to reduce vulnerability to climate change, or even worsen the situation. This is called "maladaptation".  As adaptation increases in all sectors of society and parts of the world, it is increasingly important to understand what works – and what doesn't. In our new study published in Nature Climate Change we have developed an evaluation framework for evaluating the success, or otherwise, of adaptation responses. We find that adaptation options are rarely fully adaptive or maladaptive, but rather can move along a “continuum” based on how it is designed and implemented. (Carbon Brief)