NP
Nonlinear Processes in Geosciences
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Tommaso Alberti

I am a researcher at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) in Rome, Italy. My research has an inter-disciplinary character and it mainly focuses on the understanding of processes occurring in geosciences, space sciences, and complex systems at different spatio-temporal scales. My investigations revolve around several key areas as weather and climate extremes with impacts on aviation turbulence, airports closures due to the adverse weather conditions, Acqua Alta events in Venice, flooding events after huge storms; turbulence and dissipation in both fluids and plasmas; and tipping points to develop statistical methods for identifying transition thresholds in complex systems at bifurcation points at different spatio-temporal scales with application to climate and paleoclimate, turbulence, and epidemiology.

Rethinking the carbon cost of scientific exchange: Nonlinear effects of reducing scientific mobility

and November 4, 2025
Rethinking the carbon cost of scientific exchange: Nonlinear effects of reducing scientific mobility

The carbon footprint of scientific collaboration has become an increasingly debated topic. Conferences, workshops, and research travel remain central to how science function, yet they also contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions. Since the pandemic era scientists also learned to work virtually and to attend workshops and conferences online. Understanding the carbon footprint, and how it comp ...[Read More]

AI-generated Images: the fragility of visual evidence in geosciences

and July 9, 2025
AI-generated Images: the fragility of visual evidence in geosciences
Figure: (left) Infrared satellite imagery of Hurricane Katrina. (right) AI-generated fake satellite image of a tropical cyclone over France. While visually similar to infrared satellite imagery, the storm structure and location are physically implausible and not based on real atmospheric data.

Recently, an increased number of visually striking “scientific” images have been found online: snapshots of turbulent flows with dreamlike structure, eerily symmetric cloud patterns, and what appeared to be global temperature fields annotated with plausible colormaps and scientific-looking labels. Many of these posts quickly go viral on social media. And yet, in many cases, the images ...[Read More]

Sea level rise: a global threat in a warming planet

and February 28, 2023
Sea level rise: a global threat in a warming planet
Credit: Marco Anzidei

Over 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by seas and oceans but in the geological past the extension of sea and land has varied several times as sea level changed over time. During the past millions of years, the oceans have cyclically retreated and expanded with the alternating of warmer and colder climatic periods in consequence of the astronomical motions of the Earth, repeatedly changi ...[Read More]

NP Interviews: Davide Faranda (CNRS) on the topic “global warming and extreme events in Europe”

and August 30, 2022
NP Interviews: Davide Faranda (CNRS) on the topic “global warming and extreme events in Europe”

Davide Faranda is a physicist at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). His main interests are devoted to the construction of a statistical mechanical and dynamical systems framework for the study of atmospheric motions. In particular, his works aim at the characterization of the metastable states of the atmospheric circulation with simple mathematical and statistical tools, an ...[Read More]