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IPCC Special Report: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) - 4. Changes in Impacts of Climate Extremes: Human Systems and Ecosystems

Content Type
Author or Institution as Author
John Handmer (Australia)
Co-authors

Yasushi Honda (Japan), Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz (Poland/Germany)

Date of publication
Language
Description/Abstract

Chapter 3 evaluates observed and projected changes in the frequency, intensity, spatial extent, and duration of extreme weather and climate events. This physical basis provides a picture of climate change and extreme events. But it does not by itself indicate the impacts experienced by humans or ecosystems. For example, for some sectors and groups of people, severe impacts may result from relatively minor weather and climate events. To understand impacts triggered by weather and climate events, the exposure and vulnerability of humans and ecological systems need to be examined. The emphasis of this chapter is on negative impacts, in line with this report’s focus on managing the risks of extreme events and disasters. Weather and climate events, however, can and often do have positive impacts for some people and ecosystems

Keywords
Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Global Warming
Extreme Events
Disaster
Impact
Adaptation
Human Systems
Natural Ecosystems
Contact name (for further information)
John Handmer (Australia)
Contact institution (for further information)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Citation

Handmer, J., Y. Honda, Z.W. Kundzewicz, N. Arnell, G. Benito, J. Hatfield, I.F. Mohamed, P. Peduzzi, S. Wu, B. Sherstyukov, K. Takahashi, and Z. Yan, 2012: Changes in impacts of climate extremes: human systems and ecosystems. In: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation [Field, C.B., V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, D.J. Dokken, K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea, K.J. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY, USA, pp. 231-290.

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IPCC Special Report: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) - 3. Changes in Climate Extremes and their Impacts on the Natural Physical Environment

Content Type
Author or Institution as Author
Sonia I. Seneviratne (Switzerland)
Co-authors

Neville Nicholls (Australia)

Date of publication
Institution
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Language
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Description/Abstract

This chapter addresses changes in weather and climate events relevant to extreme impacts and disasters. An extreme (weather or climate) event is generally defined as the occurrence of a value of a weather or climate variable above (or below) a threshold value near the upper (or lower) ends (‘tails’) of the range of observed values of the variable. Some climate extremes (e.g., droughts, floods) may be the result of an accumulation of weather or climate events that are, individually, not extreme themselves (though their accumulation is extreme). As well, weather or climate events, even if not extreme in a statistical sense, can still lead to extreme conditions or impacts, either by crossing a critical threshold in a social, ecological, or physical system, or by occurring simultaneously with other events. A weather system such as a tropical cyclone can have an extreme impact, depending on where and when it approaches landfall, even if the specific cyclone is not extreme relative to other tropical cyclones. Conversely, not all extremes necessarily lead to serious impacts.

Keywords
Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Global Warming
Extreme Events
Disaster
Adaptation
Environment
Contact name (for further information)
Sonia I. Seneviratne (Switzerland)
Contact institution (for further information)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Citation

Seneviratne, S.I., N. Nicholls, D. Easterling, C.M. Goodess, S. Kanae, J. Kossin, Y. Luo, J. Marengo, K. McInnes, M. Rahimi, M. Reichstein, A. Sorteberg, C. Vera, and X. Zhang, 2012: Changes in climate extremes and their impacts on the natural physical environment. In: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation [Field, C.B., V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, D.J. Dokken, K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea, K.J. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY, USA, pp. 109-230.

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IPCC Special Report: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) - 2. Determinants of Risk: Exposure and Vulnerability

Content Type
Author or Institution as Author
Omar-Dario Cardona (Colombia)
Co-authors

 Maarten K. van Aalst (Netherlands)

Date of publication
Institution
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Language
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Description/Abstract

Many climate change adaptation efforts aim to address the implications of potential changes in the frequency, intensity, and duration of weather and climate events that affect the risk of extreme impacts on human society. That risk is determined not only by the climate and weather events (the hazards) but also by the exposure and vulnerability to these hazards. Therefore, effective adaptation and disaster risk management strategies and practices also depend on a rigorous understanding of the dimensions of exposure and vulnerability, as well as a proper assessment of changes in those dimensions. This chapter aims to provide that understanding and assessment, by further detailing the determinants of risk as presented in Chapter 1.

Keywords
Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Global Warming
Risk
Exposure
Vulnerability
Extreme Events
Disaster
Adaptation
Contact name (for further information)
Omar-Dario Cardona (Colombia)
Contact institution (for further information)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Citation

Cardona, O.D., M.K. van Aalst, J. Birkmann, M. Fordham, G. McGregor, R. Perez, R.S. Pulwarty, E.L.F. Schipper, and B.T. Sinh, 2012: Determinants of risk: exposure and vulnerability. In: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation [Field, C.B., V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, D.J. Dokken, K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea, K.J. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY, USA, pp. 65-108

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IPCC Special Report: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) - 1. Climate Change: New Dimensions in Disaster Risk, Exposure, Vulnerability, and Resilience

Content Type
Author or Institution as Author
Allan Lavell (Costa Rica)
Co-authors

Michael Oppenheimer (USA)

Date of publication
Institution
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Language
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Youth marker
Description/Abstract

Climate change, an alteration in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer, is a fundamental reference point for framing the different management themes and challenges dealt with in this Special Report. Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external forcings, or to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use [...]. Anthropogenic climate change is projected to continue during this century and beyond. This conclusion is robust under a wide range of scenarios for future greenhouse gas emissions, including some that anticipate a reduction in emissions (IPCC, 2007a). The report draws on current scientific knowledge to address three specific goals:

1) To assess the relevance and utility of the concepts, methods, strategies, instruments, and experience gained from the management of climate-associated disaster risk under conditions of historical climate patterns, in order to advance adaptation to climate change and the management of extreme events and disasters in the future.

2) To assess the new perspectives and challenges that climate change brings to the disaster risk management field.

3) To assess the mutual implications of the evolution of the disaster risk management and adaptation to climate change fields, particularly with respect to the desired increases in social resilience and sustainability that adaptation implies.

Keywords
Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Global Warming
Disaster risk
Exposure
Vulnerability
Resilience
Contact name (for further information)
Allan Lavell (Costa Rica)
Contact institution (for further information)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Citation

Lavell, A., M. Oppenheimer, C. Diop, J. Hess, R. Lempert, J. Li, R. Muir-Wood, and S. Myeong, 2012: Climate change: new dimensions in disaster risk, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience. In: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation [Field, C.B., V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, D.J. Dokken, K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea, K.J. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY, USA, pp. 25-64.

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IPCC Assessment Report 5: The Physical Science Basis (Working Group I) - 3. Oceans

Content Type
Author or Institution as Author
Monika Rhein (Germany)
Co-authors

Stephen R. Rintoul (Australia)

Date of publication
Institution
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
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Description/Abstract

The ocean influences climate by storing and transporting large amounts of heat, freshwater, and carbon, and by exchanging these properties with the atmosphere. About 93% of the excess heat energy stored by the Earth over the last 50 years is found in the ocean (Church et al., 2011; Levitus et al., 2012). The ability of the ocean to store vast amounts of heat reflects the large mass and heat capacity of seawater relative to air and the fact that ocean circulation connects the surface and interior ocean. More than three quarters of the total exchange of water between the atmosphere and the Earth’s surface through evaporation and precipitation takes place over the oceans (Schmitt, 2008). The ocean contains 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere (Sabine et al., 2004) and is at present acting to slow the rate of climate change by absorbing about 30% of human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuel burning, cement production, deforestation and other land use change (Mikaloff-Fletcher et al., 2006; Le Quéré et al., 2010). Changes in the ocean may result in climate feedbacks that either increase or reduce the rate of climate change. Climate variability and change on time scales from seasons to millennia is therefore closely linked to the ocean and its interactions with the atmosphere and cryosphere. The large inertia of the oceans means that they naturally integrate over short-term variability and often provide a clearer signal of longer-term change than other components of the climate system. Observations of ocean change therefore provide a means to track the evolution of climate change, and a relevant benchmark for climate models.

Keywords
Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Assessment Report (AR5)
Global Warming
The Physical Science Basis
Oceans
Contact name (for further information)
Monika Rhein (Germany)
Contact institution (for further information)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Citation

Rhein, M., S.R. Rintoul, S. Aoki, E. Campos, D. Chambers, R.A. Feely, S. Gulev, G.C. Johnson, S.A. Josey, A. Kostianoy, C. Mauritzen, D. Roemmich, L.D. Talley and F. Wang, 2013: Observations: Ocean. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA

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IPCC Special Report: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation - Summary for Policymakers

Content Type
Author or Institution as Author
Simon K. Allen (Switzerland)
Date of publication
Institution
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Language
Gender marker
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Description/Abstract

This Summary for Policymakers presents key findings from the Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX). The SREX approaches the topic by assessing the scientific literature on issues that range from the relationship between climate change and extreme weather and climate events (‘climate extremes’) to the implications of these events for society and sustainable development. The assessment concerns the interaction of climatic, environmental, and human factors that can lead to impacts and disasters, options for managing the risks posed by impacts and disasters, and the important role that non-climatic factors play in determining impacts.

Keywords
Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Extreme Events
Disaster
Risks
Adaptation
Contact name (for further information)
Simon K. Allen (Switzerland)
Contact institution (for further information)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Citation

IPCC, 2012: Summary for Policymakers. In: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation [Field, C.B., V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, D.J. Dokken, K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea, K.J. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY, USA, pp. 3-21.

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IPCC Assessment Report 5: The Physical Science Basis (Working Group I) - 1. Introduction

Content Type
Author or Institution as Author
Ulrich Cubasch (Germany)
Co-authors

Donald Wuebbles (USA)

Date of publication
Institution
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Language
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Youth marker
Description/Abstract

This introductory chapter serves as a lead-in to the science presented in the Working Group I (WGI) contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). Chapter 1 in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) (Le Treut et al., 2007) provided a historical perspective on the understanding of climate science and the evidence regarding human influence on the Earth’s climate system. Since the last assessment, the scientific knowledge gained through observations, theoretical analyses, and modelling studies has continued to increase and to strengthen further the evidence linking human activities to the ongoing climate change. In AR5, Chapter 1 focuses on the concepts and definitions applied in the discussions of new findings in the other chapters. It also examines several of the key indicators for a changing climate and shows how the current knowledge of those indicators compares with the projections made in previous assessments. The new scenarios for projected human-related emissions used in this assessment are also introduced. Finally, the chapter discusses the directions and capabilities of current climate science, while the detailed discussion of new findings is covered in the remainder of the WGI contribution to the AR5.

Keywords
Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Assessment Report (AR5)
Global Warming
The Physical Science Basis
Introduction
Contact name (for further information)
Ulrich Cubasch (Germany)
Contact institution (for further information)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Citation

Cubasch, U., D. Wuebbles, D. Chen, M.C. Facchini, D. Frame, N. Mahowald, and J.-G. Winther, 2013: Introduction. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

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IPCC Assessment Report 5: The Physical Science Basis (Working Group I) - Annex V: Expert Reviewers of the IPCC WGI Fifth Assessment Report

Content Type
Author or Institution as Author
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Date of publication
Institution
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Language
Gender marker
Youth marker
Description/Abstract

List of the Expert Reviewers of the IPCC WGI Fifth Assessment Report.

Keywords
Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Assessment Report (AR5)
Global Warming
Expert Review
Contact institution (for further information)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Citation

IPCC, 2013: Annex VI: Expert Reviewers of the IPCC WGI Fifth Assessment Report. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

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IPCC Assessment Report 5: The Physical Science Basis (Working Group I) - Annex V: Contributors to the IPCC WGI Fifth Assessment Report

Content Type
Author or Institution as Author
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Date of publication
Institution
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Language
Gender marker
Youth marker
Description/Abstract

List of contributors to the IPCC WGI Fifth Assessment Report.

Keywords
Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Assessment Report (AR5)
Global Warming
Contributors
Contact institution (for further information)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Citation

IPCC, 2013: Annex V: Contributors to the IPCC WGI Fifth Assessment Report. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

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IPCC Assessment Report 5: The Physical Science Basis (Working Group I) - Annex IV: Acronyms

Content Type
Author or Institution as Author
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Date of publication
Institution
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Language
Gender marker
Youth marker
Description/Abstract

List of Acronyms used in the Fifth IPCC Assessment Report (AR5).

Keywords
Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Assessment Report (AR5)
Global Warming
The Physical Science Basis
Acronyms
Contact institution (for further information)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Citation

IPCC, 2013: Annex IV: Acronyms. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

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