What can history teach us about today’s world? What lessons can be learnt from an early medieval village and how can it shed light on the global challenges embodied in the climate crisis? Bridging past and present in a conversation with Helen Foxhall Forbes on climate, history, and human resilience.
The goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C has become a cornerstone of international climate policy. However, as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and the impacts of climate change intensify, surpassing this threshold is looking increasingly likely, if not inevitable. This scenario raises urgent questions about the risks involved, the feasibility of returning to safer temperature levels, and the social and economic trade-offs associated with such pathways. New tools and research, such as CMCC’s overshoot platform based on the work of an international team of scientists and design experts, can help answer these questions.
Resilience has shifted from being a matter of choice to an imperative. From climate disasters to failing infrastructure, the ability to withstand and recover from shocks is now at the heart of decision-making. Yet, despite its critical importance, there is still no universal definition for resilience and its relationship with risk. Dr Igor Linkov, a distinguished expert in risk prevention and management, walks us through methods for resilience quantification and how these can help transform fragmented approaches to risk management into coordinated strategies.
The rising threats posed by extreme weather and climate events are challenging the way insurers approach at-risk areas. From wildfires in California, USA, to flooding in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, coordinated efforts are needed to create innovative insurance solutions. “The future of insurance will depend on solutions that do more than just compensate for damage – they must actively help reduce exposure to risk,” says CMCC researcher Guido Rianna.
Oceans play a central role in the climate system and the way they interact with coastlines leads to both great opportunities and some of the most pressing hazards concerning climate scientists. “Rising sea levels, intensifying storms, marine pollution, and coastal erosion highlight the need to improve our understanding of coastal systems and our ability to manage risks effectively,” says CMCC Strategy Council member and co-chair of CoastPredict, Nadia Pinardi.
As 2024 comes to a close we look back at the most important climate events, meetings, negotiations and initiatives from the last twelve months. Our research and data, articles and projects reveal a year that has been rich with developments and change in both the climate itself and what we can expect from the future.
2024 saw yet another Mediterranean summer characterized by extreme climate and weather events. From waterspouts and wildfires to heatwaves, cyclones and floods, researchers are investigating the causes of these changes, how to better predict them, and what we need to adapt to the changes that they bring.
Climate change induced extreme weather events are on the rise, exacerbating inequalities both between and within countries on all continents. From hurricanes to heatwaves, extreme events impose costs that are not borne equally and that weigh more heavily on the poorest. “We are increasingly seeing that differing capacities for adapting to climate change are not just a matter that concerns high- and low-income countries but also the social differences within wealthy ones,” says CMCC researcher Giacomo Nicolini.
The current effects of climate and the increasingly analytical understanding of what will happen in the future. Big data and the challenges of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Increasingly detailed and understandable climate data to better define policies and strategies for the interaction between human societies and nature. The European State of the Climate 2023 through the lens of CMCC’s research strategy in the words of Simona Masina, director of the Institute for Earth System Prediction, and Monia Santini, director of the Institute for Climate Resilience.
More than just colorful maps and eye-catching graphics. Data visualization enhances the readability of complex data, engages broader audiences, and sparks interest in the “state of the climate”. Anna Lombardi, climate data visualizer at the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), offers insight into what’s behind visual narratives for climate trends. Through innovative data visualizations, the latest C3S report enhances accessibility and engagement with climate science across all audiences.
What does it mean to be the world’s fastest warming continent toppling flooding, temperature and wildfire records as glaciers melt at unprecedented rates and communities suffer like never before? Understanding the latest trends in Europe’s climate, including progress in areas such as renewable energy generation and resilience to extreme events, is the key to effective adaptation and mitigation.
Urban environment and infrastructure design are among the intersections of local, national, and European adaptation policies. Evidence of these interactions is part of the New European Bauhaus, where architecture and creativity meet climate science and sustainable development goals.
We explore insights from the European Environment Agency (EEA) report ‘Urban Adaptation in Europe’, which analyses solutions to climate challenges.
