Drought Observatory: Bulletin February 2023

The Drought Observatory Bulletin in brief In February, drought conditions are still intense in several European countries. In addition to the rainfall deficit, soil moisture anomalies at the end of the month affected not only the Po Valley and several regions of southern Italy but also vast areas of Spain, France, and even southern Great […]

Are climate information key to reducing drought and flood risks?

An interesting recently published article accurately analyzes how agroclimatic information can reduce the risks of droughts and floods in Niger. The title of the article is “Evaluation of the Impact of Seasonal Agroclimatic Information Used for Early Warning and Farmer Communities’ Vulnerability Reduction in Southwestern Niger.”, the authors Seydou, T.H.; Agali, A.; Aissatou, S.; Seydou, T.B.; […]

Drought Observatory Bulletin Jannuary 2023

Early data collected between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 indicates that the conditions of the previous year, which were considered exceptional, may be repeating themselves. It is still too early to predict whether the coming summer will be as drought-ridden as 2022, as much will depend on the amount of rainfall in the spring. 

Climate Photography Open Call

Blue Carbon, Kelp forests underwater

Have you ever stopped to think about the images we see in relation to climate change? All too often, these visuals may be aesthetically pleasing and informative, but they lack the emotional impact and significance to truly drive change. That’s where Climate Visuals comes in. Climate Visuals is a project from the creative minds at […]

Climate Crisis and the Post-Normal Science perspective

Photo by Louis Maniquet on Unsplash

Climate science has made significant progress in recent years in understanding the causes and consequences of climate change. However, despite this progress, there are still significant limitations to what can be known and accomplished through the scientific method alone. In order to overcome these limitations, it is necessary to turn to other disciplines, such as […]

The December Drought Bulletin by Drought Observatory

The year 2022 turned out to be a year of climatic extremes. It was amongst the hottest, probably the hottest year for the central-western European and central Mediterranean countries: nine out of twelve months recorded positive anomalies, and the summer was characterized by extremes including an intense heatwave, drought, record temperatures, extreme heat stress and […]

Cop27 Outcomes: failure or progress?

UNFCCC_COP27_17Nov22_PeoplesPlenary_KiaraWorth-31

What are the key outcomes of the COP27? UN Secretary-General Guterres’ own words are very clear about the results of this COP27. “We need all hands on deck for faster, bolder climate action. A window of opportunity remains open, but only a narrow shaft of light remains… We are getting dangerously close to the point […]

CNR IBE Seminar: Flood Risk Assessment and Forecasting

Credits Adam Sébire / Climate Visuals

CNR-IBE will hold the Flood Risk Assessment and Forecasting Seminar on the 12th of December 2022 at Area della Ricerca in Florence. In the meeting researchers and experts will take part to discuss the topic from different points of view: how to manage flood risk assessment when information available is scarce, which are the tools […]

Some Don’t Like It Hot

November 2022 has just started, and the high temperatures of October are just another record-shattering event after a hot and dry summer. Is it good news?

Learning Drought Basics

European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2

During the summer of 2022, we experienced extreme temperatures and water shortages. A droughty summer affected not only Italy but also the 64% of EUROPEAN UNION, as shown in the map by Copernicus Global Drought Monitoring. Credit: European Union, Copernicus Emergency Management Service   According to the EU’s environmental programme Copernicus, the 2022 drought may […]