NP
Nonlinear Processes in Geosciences

Heatwaves

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

December 1, 2025
ECS Spotlight: Evolution of the Dynamics of Centennial Hot Summers in Western Europe With Climate Change

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]

ClimaMeter: Putting Extreme Weather in Climate Perspective

September 21, 2023
ClimaMeter: Putting Extreme Weather in Climate Perspective

ClimaMeter offers a dynamic approach to contextualize and analyze weather extremes within a climate context. This framework provides both easily understandable immediate contextualization of extreme weather events as well as more in-depth technical analysis shortly after the events. Methodology: The foundation of ClimaMeter’s methodology lies in identifying weather conditions similar to those resp ...[Read More]

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

September 11, 2023
ECS SpotLight: The link between European warm-temperature extremes and atmospheric persistence
Credit: ESA, CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

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]

Socio-economic and security implications of global heating

May 15, 2023
Socio-economic and security implications of global heating
Temperature anomaly for July 2022 with respect to reference period 1959-1989. Data: 2m temperatures from ERA5.

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]