Climate Extremes and Society

by Edited by Henry F. Diaz , Richard J. Murnane

• ISBN13: 9780521298483
• ISBN10: 0521298482
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-06-30
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Extreme climatic events present society with significant challenges in a rapidly warming world. Ordinary citizens, the insurance industry and governments are concerned about the apparent increase in the frequency of weather and climate events causing extreme, and in some instances, catastrophic, impacts. Originally published in 2008, Climate Extremes and Society focuses on the recent and potential future consequences of weather and climate extremes for different socioeconomic sectors. The book also examines actions that may enable society to better respond to climate variability. It provides examples of the impact of climate and weather extremes on society. How have these extremes varied in the past, and how might they change in the future? What type of efforts will help society adapt to potential future changes in climate and weather extremes? The book is designed for all policy-makers, engineers and scientists who have an interest in the effects of climate extremes on society.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

Defining and Modeling the Nature of Weather and Climate Extremes

Definition, diagnosis, and origin of extreme weather and climate events

Observed changes in the global distribution of daily temperature and precipitation extremes

The spatial distribution of severe convective storms and an analysis of their secular changes

Regional storm climate and related marine hazards in the Northeast Atlantic

Extensive summer hot and cold extremes under current and possible future climatic conditions - Europe and North America

Beyond mean climate change - what climate models tell us about future climate extremes

Tropical cyclones and climate change - revisiting recent studies at GFDL Thomas

Impacts of Weather and Climate Extremes

Extreme climatic events and their impacts - examples from the European Alps

The impact of weather and climate extremes on coral growth

Forecasting US insured hurricane losses

Integrating hurricane loss models with climate models

An exploration of trends in normalized weather-related catastrophe losses

An overview of the impact of climate change on the insurance industry

Toward a comprehensive loss inventory of weather and climate hazards

The Catastrophe Modeling response to Hurricane Katrina

The Risk Prediction Initiative: a successful science-business partnership for analyzing natural hazard risk

Index

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