Global warming: the physical science basis
Abstract
In this webinar, we will briefly review the up-to-date scientific understanding of past and projected climate change on both global and regional (European) scales. We will introduce fundamental concepts such as the difference between weather and climate, and between climate change and natural variability. We will also explain the notion of ‘extreme event’ and its probability of occurrence in a warmer climate. Additionally, we will discuss the impact of climate change on various sectors under different emission scenarios.
We will examine the tools scientists use to project future changes in mean and extreme climates, and introduce the notions of "uncertainty"; and "robustness"; of the climate signal (how confident are we that something will happen?). Finally, we will explore how young people can be informed about climate change and its consequences.
Bio
Alessandro Dosio is a senior scientific officer at the European Commission Joint Research Centre, responsible for regional climate change modelling. His work involves producing, evaluating, and analysing climate change projections at regional scale to assess impacts on various sectors. He also investigates the occurrence and severity of weather and climate extreme events globally and regionally. Alessandro is actively involved in the World Climate Research Programme's CORDEX and RIfS initiatives and was a Lead Author for Chapter 10 “Linking Global to Regional Climate Change” of the IPCC's 6th Assessment Report. He is recognized on the Reuter’s Hot List of the world's most influential climate scientists and the Stanford University-Elsevier list of the world's top 2% scientists since 2022. He holds a degree in physics from the University of Milan and a PhD from Wageningen University. He previously worked with the Netherlands Organization for Applied Research and the UK Natural Environmental Research Council.