Weather and Climate Extremes Changes, Variations and a Perspective from the Insurance Industry

About this book

Are extreme weather events becoming more common? How do extreme weather events impact society? These are critical questions that must be examined as we confront the possibility that the world will experience a change in climate over the next century. Much of the research in climatology over the past decade has focused on potential changes in long- term averages of temperature, precipitation and other factors. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that changes in average values will be accompanied by changes in extreme events. Furthermore, extreme weather events will impact society to a greater extent as people around the world continue to locate in more hazard-prone areas such as coastal zones.This book represents a major step forwards in developing a comprehensive set of information about changes in extreme events by providing a review of the problems in data availability, quality and analysis that make deriving a clear picture of world-wide changes in extreme events so difficult. The book is intended for policy-makers, professionals, graduate students and others interested in learning how extreme weather events have changed, and how they impact society both now and in the future.

Contents

Overview; T. Karl. Summary. Workshop on Indices and Indicators for Climate Extremes T. Karl, et al.Editorials.Breakout Group A: Storms; K. E. Trenberth, T.W. Owen Breakout Group B: Precipitation; N.Nicholls, W. Murray, Breakout Group C: Temperature Indices for Climate Extremes C.K. Folland, et al. Climate Extremes and the Insurance Industry. Global Climate Change: Why U.S. Insurers Care; F.W. Nutter. Interactions between the Atmospheric Sciences and Insurers in the United States; S. Changnon, et al. Damaging Weather Conditions in the United States: A Selection of Data Quality and Monitoring Issues; B. Skinner, et al. Observed Changes in Extremes. Atlantic Basin Hurricanes: Indices of Climatic Changes; C.W. Landsea, et al. The Use of Indices to Identify Changes in Climatic Extremes; P.D. Jones, et al. Progress in the Study of Climatic Extremes in Northern and Central Europe; R. Heino, et al. Changes in Climate Extremes over the Australian Region and New Zealand during the Twentieth Century; N. Plummer, et al. Changes of Climate Extremes in China; P. Zhai, et al. Indicators of Climate Change for the Russian Federation; G. Gruza, et al. Changes in the Probability of Heavy Precipitation: Important Indicators of Climatic Change; P.Y. Groisman, et al. Long-Term Observations for Monitoring Extremes in the Americas; D.R. Easterling, et al. Climate Extremes: Selected Review and Future Research Directions; T. Karl, D. Easterling. Some Critical Aspects of Extreme Events. Conceptual Framework for Changes of Extremes of the Hydrological cycle with Climate Change; K.E. Trenberth. On Testing for Change in Extreme Events; A. Solow.

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