Climate of the Present

ECS Spotlight: Evolution of the Dynamics of Centennial Hot Summers in Western Europe With Climate Change

Robin Noyelle December 1, 2025

Extreme meteorological and climatological events can be immensely damaging and disruptive to society. Understanding the physical mechanisms driving these events, and how they will evolve with climate change is crucial for informing societal adaptation to our changing climate. However, extreme events are, by definition, rare. Our capacity to understand these events is, therefore, hindered by the sm ...[Read More]

NP Paper of the Month: “Representation learning with unconditional denoising diffusion models for dynamical systems”

Tobias Sebastian Finn October 24, 2024

About the revolution of generating butterflies Imagine the most vibrant butterfly you can conceive. Congratulations – you’ve just achieved what generative AI does! This technology can create images from simple text descriptions, revolutionising image generation. But as geoscientists, how can we use it to improve the prediction of chaotic system like our weather? How can it help us to discover prop ...[Read More]

Nonlinear Processes in Earth System Dynamics

Gabriele Messori September 27, 2023

Earth System Dynamics (ESD) is an open-access EGU journal focussing on an interdisciplinary view of the functioning of the Earth system and global change. Due its broad focus, ESD receives submissions of relevance to several different EGU divisions. Here, I would like to highlight five thought-provoking ESD papers that cover topics spanning environmental governance, extreme events, palaeo-climates ...[Read More]

ECS SpotLight: The link between European warm-temperature extremes and atmospheric persistence

Emma Holmberg September 11, 2023

Persistent atmospheric circulation patterns are not a necessary requirement for warm temperature extremes in Europe. This key finding from a recent study led by Emma Holmberg challenges a more traditional meteorological view of persistence, which typically considers summertime heatwaves, especially in northern regions of Europe, to be synonymous with persistent atmospheric flow patterns. Furthermo ...[Read More]

How Climate Change fuels intense Thunderstorms in Italy

Davide Faranda July 25, 2023

In the blistering heat of July 2023, a series of violent thunderstorms struck the serene landscapes of northern Italy, leaving behind a trail of devastation, despair, and grief. Unleashing their fury upon the unsuspecting region, these tempestuous storms unleashed torrential rains, hailstones the size of tennis balls, and ferocious winds exceeding 150 km/h. Amidst the chaos and destruction, homes ...[Read More]

Unraveling the Meteorological Factors and Climate Change’s Role in Italy’s Devastating Floods

Davide Faranda May 20, 2023

Italy has recently been struck by a series of catastrophic floods that have claimed lives, displaced thousands of people, and caused extensive damage to infrastructure. These floods were triggered by an extraordinary amount of rainfall, equivalent to six months’ worth, occurring within few days. The culmination of three distinct meteorological events, with low-pressure systems over the Thyrr ...[Read More]

NPG Paper of the Month: “A Range of Outcomes: The Combined Effects of Internal Variability and Anthropogenic Forcing on Regional Climate Trends over Europe”

Clara Deser May 19, 2023

The NPG paper of the month for February 2023 was awarded to “A Range of Outcomes: The Combined Effects of Internal Variability and Anthropogenic Forcing on Regional Climate Trends over Europe” by Clara Deser and Adam S. Phillips. How much will Europe warm in the next 50 years? Will precipitation increase or decrease? Are past climate trends unique or could alternate realities have exis ...[Read More]

Socio-economic and security implications of global heating

Christian Franzke May 15, 2023

This year, like in the last few years, we are experiencing the effects of global heating in increasingly personal ways. The summer of 2022 exposed us to ever more extreme heat waves in North America, Europe, and Asia. For instance, the heat wave in India and Pakistan reached temperatures of 49C in Nawabshah, Pakistan. North America too experienced devastating heat waves and wildfires. Los Angeles ...[Read More]

ECS SpotLight: Changes in the climate dynamics have already modified characteristics and impacts of storms in France: the case study of storm Alex 2020

Mireia Ginesta-Fernandez April 6, 2023

Extratropical cyclones play a key role in modulating the precipitation and wind in mid-latitudes and can be responsible for extreme wet and windy events. With global warming, the dynamics and thermodynamics associated with these atmospheric systems are being affected. However, due to the complexity of modelling the climate system, a challenge arises when evaluating the influence that climate chang ...[Read More]

Back in Green: The Return of Pineapple Express to California

Davide Faranda March 18, 2023

If you Google Pineapple Express you’re likely to end-up with a stoner movie comedy, but for those who live on the West Coast of North America, it has an entirely different meaning. Pineapple Express is a weather phenomenon that refers to a strong atmospheric river that brings heavy rain and moisture to the region. Despite the shared name, the two Pineapple Expresses couldn’t be more di ...[Read More]