Attributable impacts from extreme weather events
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Reading
Department Name: Meteorology
Abstract
Imagine a severe weather event occurs, causing devastating impacts to a particular region. One question that is repeatedly asked to climate scientists by politicians, disaster responders, recovery planners and journalists is about the role of climate change in causing or affecting the event. The direct cause of the devastation is the unusual weather but, in many cases, climate change will have made the event more likely, more severe, or potentially both. In those cases, the devastation may be partly or even mostly due to the change in climate. In some cases, the worst consequences may be due to the vulnerability of those living in the region, or a combination of many different factors which will reflect past and current decisions on a variety of levels.
Understanding whether climate change has made the event more damaging is important. Wealthier nations have caused the world to warm, but poorer nations have experienced some of the most damaging consequences. International climate negotiations are discussing the issue of 'loss and damage' - whether and how those mainly responsible for climate change should compensate those who experience the worst consequences. This project will aid those discussions by providing answers to key questions about how the consequences of extreme weather events have already changed and how those consequences may change further in future, and by placing those events within their specific contexts of vulnerability.
We will develop a new methodology to answer questions about the severity of extreme weather events - how have the consequences of a particular weather situation been made worse by climate change? If the same weather situation had occurred in the climate that we had 100years ago, would it have been less damaging? What about if the weather situation happens again in the future? These are well-defined questions, but we cannot easily answer them yet. As an example, we might expect that more rain would fall today in a severe storm than if the same storm had occurred 100 years ago, potentially making the consequences worse. But, how much more rain? And, beyond the direct meteorological consequences, what about the effects on river flows and people? We will also use these same concepts in reverse by applying them to extreme events that occurred several decades ago to examine how their consequences would be different today in a warmer world.
This project will consider many different types of extreme weather event, including heavy rainfall, windstorms, heatwaves and droughts, and examine the consequences of those weather events for society, including damage to property and flooding. Importantly, we will identify the additional impacts of a particular weather event which are due to living in a warmer world, directly addressing the critical issue of losses and damages caused by climate change. We will also build narratives of plausible worst-case events to inform decision making on adapting to our warming world.
Understanding whether climate change has made the event more damaging is important. Wealthier nations have caused the world to warm, but poorer nations have experienced some of the most damaging consequences. International climate negotiations are discussing the issue of 'loss and damage' - whether and how those mainly responsible for climate change should compensate those who experience the worst consequences. This project will aid those discussions by providing answers to key questions about how the consequences of extreme weather events have already changed and how those consequences may change further in future, and by placing those events within their specific contexts of vulnerability.
We will develop a new methodology to answer questions about the severity of extreme weather events - how have the consequences of a particular weather situation been made worse by climate change? If the same weather situation had occurred in the climate that we had 100years ago, would it have been less damaging? What about if the weather situation happens again in the future? These are well-defined questions, but we cannot easily answer them yet. As an example, we might expect that more rain would fall today in a severe storm than if the same storm had occurred 100 years ago, potentially making the consequences worse. But, how much more rain? And, beyond the direct meteorological consequences, what about the effects on river flows and people? We will also use these same concepts in reverse by applying them to extreme events that occurred several decades ago to examine how their consequences would be different today in a warmer world.
This project will consider many different types of extreme weather event, including heavy rainfall, windstorms, heatwaves and droughts, and examine the consequences of those weather events for society, including damage to property and flooding. Importantly, we will identify the additional impacts of a particular weather event which are due to living in a warmer world, directly addressing the critical issue of losses and damages caused by climate change. We will also build narratives of plausible worst-case events to inform decision making on adapting to our warming world.
