The sessions > Impacts of climate change in the 21st century

The Mediterranean region is strongly impacted by climate change, with temperatures rising faster than the global average and reaching now +1.5°C above the values observed before the industrial revolution. Without mitigation, most climate scenarios indicate that temperature is likely to continue to increase at a high rate. Several impacts are already observed and particularly an increased frequency of heat waves, wildfires and drought events. In addition, all climate scenarios point towards a decrease in precipitations.

The combination of an increase in temperature and a decrease in precipitation sets the conditions for a drying of the whole Mediterranean region and most particularly the southern countries already affected by water scarcity. Paradoxically, heavy precipitation events are projected to increase for several Mediterranean countries, possibly leading to more severe floods in particular for urban areas.

In this context, the Mediterranean region is facing major challenges in the 21th century to adapt to these changing climatic conditions that may induce strong socio-economic consequences. In this session, a review of the state-of-knowledge about changes in the Mediterranean climate will be provided, based on the results obtained in several programs including MISTRALS, MED-CORDEX and MED-CLIVAR.