Theme: Climate change
I-CHANGE project
The documented effects of climate change and environmental degradation are a threat to human societies on European and global scales. Climate change may have an impact on water availability, may increase the threat of flooding and flash-floods, and will challenge coastal regions due to rising sea levels. All this will have impacts on the economy and society. The role of citizens and their skills become important both in limiting human impacts ...
The strong retreat of the Italian glaciers
Between the late 19th and early 21st century, in the Alps the average air temperature has increased by about 2 °C, more than twice the increase in temperature in the northern hemisphere, of 0.8 °C. In the same period, precipitation showed a tendency towards an increase in the northern part of the Alps, and a tendency towards a decrease in the southern sector of the Alps.
Since the end of the Little Ice Age (about 1850), glaciers in the ...
Droughts, desertification and climate change in Calabria, Southern Italy
Using long-term rainfall records obtained by the rain gauge network of the former Italian Hydrographic Service, in cooperation with colleagues in other CNR Institutes (ISAC and ISAFOM), we have studied the changes in the rainfall regimes in Calabria, Southern Italy.
Applying appropriate statistical methods, we checked the completeness of the historical records, verifying consistency and missing values in the records. We used the obtained ...
Progetto ADAPT
From population risk perception to social vulnerability in coastal areas subject to climate change: a proposal for risk management strategies in two Mediterranean regions
Coastal areas are particularly sensitive to climate change. Because these areas have become particularly susceptible to extreme physical phenomena because of a significant increase in human pressure, climate change will cause heightened exposure and vulnerability of the population. The Authorities ought to make strong efforts to: i) take the necessary measures and actions to reduce the negative impacts of the natural phenomena on the coastal ...
Regenarating ECOsystems with Nature-based solutions for hydro-meteorological risk rEduCTion
RECONECT is a Horizon 2020 project that aims to enhance the European reference framework on Nature Based Solutions (NBS) for hydro-meteorological risk reduction by demonstrating, referencing, upscaling and exploiting large-scale NBS in rural and natural areas. The Pilot site is the Portofino Natural Regional Park (Ligurian Apennines), 25 km E of Genoa. The park extends along both sides of the Promontory of Portofino, facing Tigullio and ...
Towards geohazards resilient infrastructure under changing climates
A trend of increasingly frequent intense rainfalls and changing rainfall patterns is causing a relevant number of landslides and floods affecting urban areas and engineering infrastructures such as roads, railways. Recently Transport networks across Europe experienced several failures the reasons of which are still poorly understood.. To improve the current situation, a step change in the way we design reliable and effective defence structures ...
RiST2, the research go on
The researches at high-elevation sites continues, thanks to the RiST2 project (co-financed by Fondazione CRT of Torino). The study area is the Bessanese glacial basin. The Alpine environment and in particular the cryosphere, is responding quickly and with great intensity to climate change. The air temperature increase observed in the Alps urge the scientific communities involved in natural instability studies to consider not only air ...
Integrated approach for the development across Europe of user oriented climate indicators for GFCS high-priority sectors: agriculture, disaster risk reduction, energy, health, water and tourism
Climate change strongly impacts the whole European territory. Drought severely affects agriculture; precipitation extremes are associated with flooding, severe damage to properties and lives; temperature extremes can increase mortality; the seasonality and availability of snow affects water resources and winter tourism; wind speed or sunshine hours affect the production of renewable energy. These relations can be studied through the computation ...
Accuracy of hydrological data for extreme events analysis and upgrade of Umbria Regional Hydrological Service’s platform
The improved understanding of the underlying physical processes of extreme events is closely linked to the development and verification of procedures to better control, analysis and validation of hydrological data for the description and visualization of meteorological events creating an operational "database of event" which enables to better identify under what conditions hazards ...
Qualitative and quantitative degradation risks of water resources and effects on human activities
The research topics involve the consideration of geological, geomorphological, hydrological, hydrogeological, and technology and the use of innovative methodologies to achieve the sustainability of the natural balance inherent inland waters, with a focus on groundwater and river water. Finally, we consider the effects of climate change on the hydrological cycle and anthropogenic modifications to emphasize the contribution of these modifications ...
Missiaga catchment – hydrometeorological data (1983-2000)
Identification and estimation of the parameters for assessing the risk of desertification
The Calabria region, because of its climatic, geomorphological and anthropic characteristics, is one of the regions most exposed to the risk of desertification in the Mediterranean basin. Methods already known in the literature and new approaches were applied at a basin scale on an area of the Ionian side, that, for rainfall and climatic characteristics, is one of the most exposed to this ...
RiST project: Scientific and Technological research in the Bessanese glacial basin (Balme, NW Italian Alps)
The Alpine environment, and in particular the high-altitude one, is responding quickly and with great intensity to climate change, through evidences of geomorphological, hydrological and ecological type. Mountain glacier shrinkage and related outcropping of rock walls and debris, changes of the precipitation and temperature patterns, are some of the main terrestrial indicators of climatic ...
Climate change impact on extreme events
The service analyzes the climate change impact on the main hydro-meteorological variables involved in the hydrological cycle and, in particular, on extreme events of rainfall and discharge (droughts and floods). The service allows to evaluate the combined effects of natural and human processes related to climate change on surface runoff and groundwater, analyzing the possible consequences of such effects on the strategic water ...
Siccità E Cambiamenti cLImatici
SECLI Project is aimed to assess the combined effects of processes related to natural and anthropogenic climate change on water resources, both surface and groundwater, in the Umbrian territory, identifying the possible consequences of such effects on drinking water policy, and on how these may affect the existing system of withdrawals and ...
RelationsHips between meteo-climAtic paraMeters and ground surface deforMation time sEries in mountain enviRonments
There is a systematic lack of information on the effects of the climate and environmental changes on the frequency and the intensity of landslides and their triggering phenomena (Huggel et al., 2012). The problem is particular severe in mountain area, where natural and human-driven climatic and environmental changes may alter significantly the frequency and the intensity of the slope processes, with largely unknown short and long-term effects ...
Spatial-temporal evolution of glacial resources in the Italian Alps over the last 100 years
Glaciers are widely recognized as the best terrestrial indicator of climate change. Nevertheless, occurred changes, even in recent times, are often poorly known. Italy has a unique, secular history of glaciological documentation that, jointly with a rich wealth of spatial, multitemporal data, allows an accurate reconstruction of recent glacier evolution. Unfortunately, these data are dispersed and/or difficult to ...
Climate change on slope failures initiation in the Italian Alps
Climate change in the Greater Alpine Region is seriously affecting glacial and periglacial areas, with relevant consequences on slope stability. Cryosphere degradation, changes of the precipitation and temperature patterns and of the hydrological regimes, are some of the main terrestrial indicators of climatic change. Moreover, the increasing number of tourists and human activities rise the level of ...
Glacial hazards in the western Alps
The project is included in Operative Program of the European cross-border territorial cooperation "Alcotra 2007-2013". It brings together specialized scientific expertise Italian and French that deal to study the mountain and its dangerousness. It is divided into a part of studies conducted on the entire framework of the Western Alps and in actions on the pilot sites identified by the ...
Long-term Permafrost Monitoring Network
Permafrost is very sensitive to climate change and the risks associated with its degradation affect traffic routes, settlements and infrastructure. Data on the distribution of permafrost are inconsistent and there is no common strategy to tackle this problem. Local administrators should have the means to manage the risks associated with the degradation of the ...