This paper argues that there has to be a far more serious engagement with the ways in which climate change will significantly alter the nature of the environment, along with human rural and urban futures. Historically, and pre-historically, climate change has been a major formative and transformative agent of human culture (Rapoport: 1969, Fagin, 2004). We are now at the edge of a moment where the unfolding consequences of this anthropogenically amplified phenomenon will become unambiguously evident in the world around us. The degree to which such change will impact on people and economic life will be directly proportionate to the quality and level of ‘climate adaptive design’ undertaken. This requirement raises crucial issues of ethics and equity. From outlining the general issue of climate change and human vulnerability, two scenarios are to be presented that contrast moderate and radical action – this to indicate the range and scale of actions that beg to be contemplated and taken. The conclusion will focus on what obstructs positive action and the imperative to overcome them.