Author: Lorenzo Nerantzis

  New data show that extreme weather events have become more frequent over the past 36 years. The study conducted by the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council, which is made up of the 27 national science academies in the European Union, Norway, and Switzerland, examined trends in extreme weather within Europe with a significant uptick in floods and other hydrological events compared with a similar study published five years ago. The study found that hydrological events, such as floods and landslides, have quadrupled worldwide since 1980 and have doubled since 2004. It also found that climatological events, such as extreme temperatures, droughts, and forest fires, have more than doubled since 1980. And it found that meteorological events, such as storms, have doubled since 1980, the council said in a statement.…

The Eastern Alps Hydrographic District, partner of BeAWARE, is organizing the 2nd International Conference on Citizen Observatories for natural hazards and Water Management (COWM) that will take place in Venice, Italy, from 27 to 30 November 2018.  The COWM International Conference is a biennial event that has been organized since 2016. The first edition brought together specialists in water, water resources, soil and environmental protection (international academic communities, professionals, public administrations, businesses and engineering companies), and stimulated and promoted both research and real world applications: the presence of experts from worldwide (over 75 scientific presentations by leading experts coming from more than 15 nations - from Australia to the United States, from Scandinavia to South Africa), confirmed the importance on an international level of the data engineering processes that exploit…

  Researchers at the Newcastle University Polytechnic School published a study at the scientific journal Environmental Research Letters  which highlights the urgent need to adapt urban areas to cope with extreme weather, and more precisely three areas that the beAWARE project is intended to tackle: floods, droughts and heatwaves. The study used all available climate models (based on three scenarios) to predict how the weather would evolve to 571 European cities by 2050-2100, focusing on the three above-mentioned phenomena. Even with the most optimistic of the three scenarios, the study predicts higher temperatures and worse heatwaves in 571 cities. Moreover, it estimates increased droughts mainly in southern Europe, an augmentation of floods in north-western Europe and a wider deterioration of the risks from extreme weather conditions in the majority of…

  There is a general consensus among environmental scientists that the average Earth's temperature is slowly rising, but, according to a study coming from the University of California, the temperatures are rising even higher in the world’s big cities during the hot days of the year. The survey reveals that, while the average annual temperature of our planet is rising with a slow but steady pace for many years, there is a worrying, much steeper, rise in extreme temperatures during the hottest days of the year. The situation is more noticeable - and more deadly - in the largest cities in the world, especially those with more than five million inhabitants Scientists analyzed the hottest days of the year from 8,848 weather stations around the world at a depth of…

  The water levels of the Seine and Marne, two of major rivers in France crossing the capital Paris, have been steadily risen since last week, causing an evacuation of around 1.500 people as many streets and basements were flooded in the greater Paris metropolitan area. Fears have been expressed that the exceptional increased rainfall of the last weeks will further augment the water levels according to the flood warning agency Vigicrues. Even more alarming is the announcement coming from France’s meteorological service, declaring the current December-January period as the third wettest on record since data collection began in 1900 (https://goo.gl/zwYwQK). Drone footage is showing the swollen Seine as it has peaked at more than four metres above its normal level (https://goo.gl/pSSK4Y). Source: France24, BBC News, REUTERS

The meteorological service of the National Observatory of Athens announced the record of the temperature, rainfall and wind speed recorded during 2017 in Greece. According to the NOA's automatic weather station network, the temperature of 45.9 degrees Celsius recorded at Mires Heraklion on July 17, 2017, was the absolute maximum temperature of last year, but also the highest maximum temperature recorded in nearly 13 years its operation. Also, the absolute minimum temperature in residential areas was -18.8 degrees Celsius in Florina on January 12, 2017, while the maximum wind gust was recorded in Paxi and was 133.6 km / h. The maximum daily rainfall was in Platanias, Crete, on 26/10/2017, reaching 242mm. On an annual basis, the maximum rainfall occurred last year in Zagora Pelion, which received a total of…

  The summertime period of the southern hemisphere, despite the lack of the El Niño phenomenon, has given a long period of high temperatures, dry climate and extended heatwaves. Especially for Australia, the 2017's average temperature of 22.76C – or 0.95C above the long-term average – was the third-highest year since records began in 1910. “Another year has passed and we have another set of records driven by intensifying climate change,” Will Steffen, a climate change expert from the Climate Council, said, according to The Guardian (https://goo.gl/5GtTDz). In Sydney, it was recorded the second warmest day in history (47.3 C), and in Victoria region, the temperatures were so high that highways asphalt began to melt due to heat. Moreover, flora and fauna were severely affected. According to the National Geographic,…

New submission deadline! The final date for the submission of papers for the participation in the ISCRAM2018 has been rescheduled for 28th of January! beAWARE project, in collaboration with I-React and AnywhereH2020, is organizing a workshop during the annual international conference ISCRAM2018 in Rochester, NY on May 20-23, The subject of the workshop is on information systems for crisis response and management of climate disasters including fires, floods, earthquakes and heatwaves. For any additional information on the conference, or the submission process, click the following links: https://iscram2018.rit.edu/submissions https://www.conftool.pro/iscram2018/

The third plenary meeting of the beAWARE project in Haifa, with the participation of the entire consortium, offered many interesting presentations and a great opportunity for all partners to catch up with their respecting colleagues. We would like to thank our host IBM for their excellent hospitality, and all the participants for the dedicated time in the presentations, discussions and meetings.

  Heavy rains that fell the weekend of 10th and 11th of September in Northern Italy caused severe flooding in Tuscany region. The areas worst hit were the Spezia region and the picturesque Five Lands tourist destination, where up to 500 millimetres of rain fell in just a few hours overnight.Four members of one family trapped in their basement apartment died in the city of Livorno, which was taken on the brunt of the flooding. In total, 6 people were report dead and 2 missing. Sources: CNN, La Repubblica