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https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-205
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-205
14 Feb 2023
 | 14 Feb 2023

Projections and uncertainties of future winter windstorm damage in Europe

Luca G. Severino, Chahan M. Kropf, Hilla Afargan-Gerstman, Christopher Fairless, Andries Jan de Vries, Daniela I. V. Domeisen, and David N. Bresch

Abstract. Winter windstorms are among the most significant natural hazards in Europe linked to fatalities and substantial economic damages. However, projections of windstorm impact in Europe under climate change are highly uncertain. This study combines climate projections from 30 general circulation models participating in CMIP6 with the climate-risk assessment model CLIMADA to obtain projections of future change in windstorm-induced damages over Europe. We conduct an uncertainty-sensitivity analysis, and find large uncertainties in the projected changes in the damages, with climate model uncertainty being the dominant factor of uncertainty in the projections. We investigate spatial patterns of the future changes in windstorm damages and find an increase in the damages in northwestern and northern-central Europe, and a decrease over the rest of Europe, in agreement with an eastward extension of the North Atlantic storm track into Europe. We combine all 30 available climate models in an ensemble of opportunity approach and find evidence for an intensification of future windstorm damages, with damages with return periods of 100 years under current climate conditions becoming damages with return periods of 28 years under future SSP585 climate scenarios. Our findings demonstrate the importance of climate model uncertainty for the CMIP6 projections of windstorms in Europe, and emphasize the increasing need for risk mitigation due to extreme weather in the future.

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Journal article(s) based on this preprint

03 May 2024
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Projections and uncertainties of winter windstorm damage in Europe in a changing climate
Luca G. Severino, Chahan M. Kropf, Hilla Afargan-Gerstman, Christopher Fairless, Andries Jan de Vries, Daniela I. V. Domeisen, and David N. Bresch
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1555–1578, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1555-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1555-2024, 2024
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The future of loss and damage from severe European winterstorms remains an open topic for...
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This study uses climate projections from 30 climate models and a climate-risk assessment model...
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