Attribution and prediction of extreme events: Editorial on the special issue
Date
2015
Authors
Seneviratne, Sonia I.
Zwiers, Francis W.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Weather and Climate Extremes
Abstract
The investigation of extreme events and their relation to climate change and variability is arguably one of the most challenging areas in climate research. Extremes are also of continual concern amongst policy and decision makers, and in the media, because of the devastating impacts that can result from their occurrence. As highlighted in the recent IPCC Special Report on “Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change and adaptation” (SREX), climate extremes are by definition rare, often difficult to define, not well observed, and pose substantial challenges in their characterization (IPCC, 2012, Seneviratne et al., 2012). The scientific challenges are multidisciplinary, and point to the need for improved statistical analysis tools, deeper process understanding, and more extensive assessments of the societal and ecosystems impacts of extreme events. Despite, or maybe because of these issues, research on extremes is vibrant and is advancing rapidly (Seneviratne et al., 2012, Zwiers et al., 2013, Herring et al., 2014). Nevertheless, the magnitude and importance of research on extremes is so large that even greater levels of effort and amounts of expertise are urgently required across a broad range of disciplines.
Description
Keywords
UN SDG 13: Climate Action, #journal article, Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC)
Citation
Seneviratne, S. I., & Zwiers, F. W. (2015). Attribution and prediction of extreme events: Editorial on the special issue. Weather and Climate Extremes, 9, 2–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2015.08.003