OVERVIEW

Climate change is a global issue that has implications on the regional scale, thus affecting countries and regions to various degrees and in several sectors. Future climate projections obtained from global and regional climate models are required to assess changes in mean and extreme climate events. Regional climate models are the best available tools so far for the provision of climate projections at the regional scale. For particular applications such as hydrological applications or impacts on energy demand and health, statistical downscaling tools are additionally used to provide climatic output at a higher resolution and at specific case study locations. Moreover, little attempt has been made to assess the range of uncertainty among climatic projections. Therefore, substantial effort is required to validate the climate models using station data or gridded observational datasets. It is necessary for the sake and interest of climate policy makers in the Mediterranean to be aware of both the climate projections, the dynamical and statistical downscaling tools available and the associated impacts for the future as well as of the uncertainty that follows these projections.

The research activities of CLIMADAPT concern a) Tools and methodologies to analyse data from meteorological stations and/or climate models using climate indicators to represent both mean, extremes and trends. b) Quantitative assessment of climate change impacts on several sectors e.g tourism, agriculture, health, forest fires, energy demand for the present and future periods (by 2100) based on regional climate models projections, observations and statistical impact models. c) Production of detailed climate information for several sectors (such as agriculture and forest fires) at regional to local scales tailored for stakeholder/policy maker needs, including contribution in developing online web-tools for future climate change adaptation policies.

Members of the team have under their supervision the operation of two historical climatic and actinometric stations, established at Thissio (center of Athens) since 1890 and at Pendeli (Northern part of Athens) since 1998, whose climatic data are available to scientific and research community upon request. A new actinometric network outside the Attica area covering different climatic zones in Greece has also been developed, for investigating the role of solar variability in climatic parameters and for the validation of solar radiation models.

Moreover, analysis of historical (multi-decadal) atmospheric variables are being carried out in order to study long-term variability and trends on short wave radiation, cloud amount and advanced bioclimatic (thermal) indices, for highlighting the increased exposure of urban population to heat-related risk. The study of the electricity consumption for residential and commercial use in conjunction with basic meteorological parameters for various locations in Greece and abroad, contribute to the identification of peak electricity loads and estimation of the optimum climate conditions for low levels of electricity demands. The network of radiometric stations, over Greece contributes to the understanding the role of solar variability in solar activity which is essential to the interpretation of past climate and future predictions.

The Climate Change group consists of Dr. C. Giannakopoulos, Research Director at the National Observatory of Athens, Dr. D. Founda, Dr. B. Psiloglou, Dr. N. Roukounakis and F. Pierros accompanied by a number of Post-doctoral researchers, Ph.D. students and informatics experts.