About this Research Topic
Hydro-Climate extremes, such as drought, flood, and heatwaves, pose a severe threat to human health, energy, agricultural yields, and ecosystems. In recent decades, there has been an increasing trend in frequency, intensity, and duration of hydro-climate extreme events at both the global and regional scales. This is also the case for other natural disasters including but not limited to typhoons, wildfires, and thunderstorms. In mid-July 2022, a remarkable extreme heatwave event of up to 41°C (105.8°F) broke the heat record in parts of Europe and caused the death of at least 4,224 people, and the UK issued a red heat warning for the first time. Worse still, the likelihood of such extremes will rapidly increase under the background of continued global warming. The international community is highly concerned about the disaster risks caused by climate change and has actively promoted the global transition from post-disaster response to comprehensive disaster risk mitigation.
While the hydro-climate extremes and natural disasters have huge social and economic impacts, the physical processes and associated mechanisms underpinning these climate extremes are far from clear, and the social processes and consequences of natural disasters also need to be well identified and investigated. With the intensity and magnitude of hydro-climate extremes and natural disasters being unknown, the changes in natural disasters during global warming and the corresponding effects are unclear. Therefore, this Research Topic aims to advance the observation and projection of hydro-climate extremes and natural disaster processes, including heatwaves, droughts, extreme precipitation, floods, and compound extreme events. Furthermore, their impacts on the social and economic processes, such as economic/population vulnerability and social sustainable development also need to be better quantified. This Research Topic will hopefully help to mitigate the long-term risk to life, property, and the environment caused by natural hazards.
This Research Topic welcomes high-quality Original Research and Review Articles related to all the aspects of Hydro-Climate Extremes and Natural Disasters to Observation, Projection, and Mitigation. Focus will be given to the following topics, but not be limited to:
• Climate extreme performance in high-resolution models;
• Compound extreme weather and climate events (e.g., hot-polluted episodes, heatwave-drought);
• Climate extreme changes on city scales under different Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) scenarios: urban versus rural;
• Economics of climate extremes: past, present, and future;
• Statistical, AI, and modelling methods for improving extreme weather prediction;
• Projected Hydro-Climate Extremes changes and their impacts on agriculture and the ecosystem;
• Projected Hydro-Climate Extremes changes and their impacts on the economy, population, health, etc.;
• Urban flood modeling, forecasting, and prevention.
While the hydro-climate extremes and natural disasters have huge social and economic impacts, the physical processes and associated mechanisms underpinning these climate extremes are far from clear, and the social processes and consequences of natural disasters also need to be well identified and investigated. With the intensity and magnitude of hydro-climate extremes and natural disasters being unknown, the changes in natural disasters during global warming and the corresponding effects are unclear. Therefore, this Research Topic aims to advance the observation and projection of hydro-climate extremes and natural disaster processes, including heatwaves, droughts, extreme precipitation, floods, and compound extreme events. Furthermore, their impacts on the social and economic processes, such as economic/population vulnerability and social sustainable development also need to be better quantified. This Research Topic will hopefully help to mitigate the long-term risk to life, property, and the environment caused by natural hazards.
This Research Topic welcomes high-quality Original Research and Review Articles related to all the aspects of Hydro-Climate Extremes and Natural Disasters to Observation, Projection, and Mitigation. Focus will be given to the following topics, but not be limited to:
• Climate extreme performance in high-resolution models;
• Compound extreme weather and climate events (e.g., hot-polluted episodes, heatwave-drought);
• Climate extreme changes on city scales under different Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) scenarios: urban versus rural;
• Economics of climate extremes: past, present, and future;
• Statistical, AI, and modelling methods for improving extreme weather prediction;
• Projected Hydro-Climate Extremes changes and their impacts on agriculture and the ecosystem;
• Projected Hydro-Climate Extremes changes and their impacts on the economy, population, health, etc.;
• Urban flood modeling, forecasting, and prevention.
Keywords: flood, heatwave, drought, compound extreme event, observation, projection, mitigation, SSP scenarios, economic cost, prediction
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
