Climate of the Present

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

Credit: https://openai.com/product/dall-e-2

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

Satellite imagery via NASA Worldview from the Terra satellite. Source https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/

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]

El Niño is back: What it Means for Global Warming?

Davide Faranda March 16, 2023

El Niño vs la Niña schematic representation of wind anomalies (arrows) and ocean temperature anomalies (colors). source: https://thecolumn.ahacentre.org/insight/vol-66-getting-to-know-el-nino-la-nina/

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has just announced that the La Niña episode has officially ended, and from autumn onwards, it should give way to an El Niño phase. But what does that mean? And what is the influence of these weather phenomena on global warming?For those who have never heard of La Niña before, here’s an explanation of this phenomenon. The Earth rotates, so there are ...[Read More]

Sea level rise: a global threat in a warming planet

Marco Anzidei and Tommaso Alberti February 28, 2023

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]