The NPG paper of the month for January 2023 was awarded to “Brief communication: Climate science as a social process – history, climatic determinism, Mertonian norms and post-normality” by Hans von Storch. One could argue that climate science is part of geophysics, or more precisely that part of climate science is part of geophysics. But when referring to ”processes” in ”Nonlinear Processes in Geo ...[Read More]
Climate Tipping Points through the “eyes” of the Masters: a virtual art exhibition
We are running out of time in fighting the effects of climate change. With the greenhouse gasses emissions steady, the planet is reaching warming levels that could cause some large ecosystems to tip in different states. A tipping point in the climate system refers to a threshold beyond which a small change in a particular variable can cause a significant and potentially irreversible change in the ...[Read More]
NP Interview: Federico Grazzini on Climate Change casts shadows on the present and the future of the Mediterranean Basin
Monthly mean sea surface temperature averaged over western and central Mediterranean sea [0E - 22E], months April - November. The blue line corresponds to the recent climatology 1991-2020 with the shading respectively showing 1,2,3 standard deviations of the monthly averages from the mean. Symbols are showing this year values and, for comparison with a previous strongest marine heat wave, the values recorded in 2003.
Weather extreme events in the year 2022 are really hitting the Mediterranean basin very hard. Since the beginning of the year we are observing a widespread drought, heatwaves but also severe thunderstorms. Few days before the COP meeting in Sharm-el-sheik we discussed one of the experts of Mediterranean climate, Federico Grazzini, to unveil whether these events can be linked to climate change. Fe ...[Read More]
What the 2022 summer thunderstorms in the Mediterranean tell us about the ongoing climate change?
Lightning trace from 00 UTC to 18 UTC on 18 July 2022 showing the derecho track (dark red to white).
Source: https://www.blitzortung.org/it/live_lightning_maps.php
The 2022 European summer was governed by the presence of a persistent cold drop (low pressure area) located between Portugal and France. The change in its position has determined the alternation between hot conditions (low pressure center over Portugal) and stormy conditions (cold drop over France). The warming of the Mediterranean Sea (up to +6°C compared to the period 1990-2020) has largely cont ...[Read More]