CML Group
Research Highlights
Given that anthropogenic warming of the climate system is unequivocal, accurate assessment of future climate is essential to understand the impact of climate change due to global warming. Although considerable effort has been made to predict where and how severe the warming might occur, the projected intensity and change direction of extremes (e.g. heat waves, droughts, floods) are still a subject of debate because of the nonlinear responses of the climate system to the greenhouse gases. CML has attempted to quantify the consequences of anthropogenic climate change. For example, the following paper, which was published in Science Advances (Featured on the cover of August 2017 issue), enhanced public awareness of the potential dramatic effects of climate change, beyond being an abstract concept.
Climate model can be an excellent tool to study climate processes such as land-atmosphere interaction. In particular, CML has attempted to strengthen our understanding of the impacts of human-made land-use change (e.g. irrigation, deforestation, afforestation, and urbanization) on climate at regional scales. For example, the following paper, which was chosen by the editor focus session of "Sustainability on Earth" in Nature Geoscience, provided a solid physical mechanism explaining how irrigation can modify regional climate in and around irrigated areas.
The need for climate change information at the regional-to-local scale is one of the central issues. In particular, such information is necessary in order to assess the impacts of climate change on human and natural systems and to develop suitable adaptation and mitigation strategies at the national level. CML has been working with impact assessment teams for estimating the hydrological and agricultural impact to climate change. Such interdisciplinary collaborations could be an effective way to maximize the value of fine-scale climate information.
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