Robert Nicholls is currently the Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and a professor of climate adaptation at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, United Kingdom.
Robert Nicholls is currently the Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and a professor of climate adaptation at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, United Kingdom.
Nicholls is the Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research [1] and a professor of climate adaptation at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, United Kingdom. [2] Prior to this, he was professor of coastal engineering at the University of Southampton from 2004 to 2019. [3] He was professor at the Flood Hazard Research Centre at Middlesex University from 2000 to 2003 [4] and held positions as a reader and senior lecturer at the same university from 1996 to 2000. He was a research fellow at the Laboratory for Coastal Research, University of Maryland in the United States from 1990 to 1994 and was a research fellow at the Institute of Marine Studies, University of Plymouth from 1987 to 1990.
He was educated at the University of Southampton where he was awarded a PhD in coastal engineering in 1985 analysing coastal erosion in and around Hurst Spit on the south coast of England”.
Much of his work has focused on responding to sea-level rise and climate change, necessitating an interdisciplinary approach. A distinctive dimension has been consideration of the coastal zone in system terms, facilitating policy analysis. He has led a series of large multi-million pound projects including the Tyndall Coastal Simulator, the NERC-funded iCOASST (Evolving coastal geomorphic sediment systems), the ESPA Deltas [5] [6] and DECCMA projects on deltas, mainly in Bangladesh. [7] [8] He has engaged in a number of pioneering broad-scale assessments of sea-level rise issues and is a founding member of the Dynamic Interactive Vulnerability Assessment (DIVA) Model which has enabled global analysis. [9]
He was a lead author of the second (1995) and third (2001) assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), convening lead author (with Poh Poh Wong, Singapore) of the fourth IPCC Assessment (published 2007) and review editor on the fifth IPCC Assessment (published 2014). He has also contributed to several IPCC Special Reports as a Lead and a Contributing Author, most recently to the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate published in 2019. [10]
He currently leads the OpenCLIM (Open CLimate IMpacts modelling framework Project) [11] [12] and contributes to the European PROTECT and CoCliCo Projects on coastal risks and climate services, as well as the REST-COAST project focused on coastal restoration.
He co-led the World Climate Research Programme Sea-Level Rise Grand Challenge [13] from 2014 to 2022 to deliver sea-level science to support better coastal impact [14] and adaptation assessment, organising the Sea Level 2017 and Sea Level 2022 Conferences in New York and Singapore, respectively. [13] He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers/COPRI Coastal Engineering Research Council. [15]
In 2007, Robert Nicholls was the convening lead author for the coastal chapter for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [16] (IPCC) fourth assessment report. [17] That year, the IPCC was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. [18]
Nicholls was also awarded the Roger Revelle Medal in 2008 for outstanding contributions to ocean sciences awarded by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Executive Council. Robert has made it to the list of Web of Science's Highly Cited Researchers every year since 2019, [19] ranking in the top 1% by citations of scientists and social scientists. In 2021, Robert was part of the ‘Hot list’ of the world's 1,000 most influential climate scientists by Reuters. [20]
Mean sea level is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datum – a standardised geodetic datum – that is used, for example, as a chart datum in cartography and marine navigation, or, in aviation, as the standard sea level at which atmospheric pressure is measured to calibrate altitude and, consequently, aircraft flight levels. A common and relatively straightforward mean sea-level standard is instead the midpoint between a mean low and mean high tide at a particular location.
The IPCC Third Assessment Report (TAR), Climate Change 2001, is an assessment of available scientific and socio-economic information on climate change by the IPCC. Statements of the IPCC or information from the TAR were often used as a reference showing a scientific consensus on the subject of global warming. The Third Assessment Report (TAR) was completed in 2001 and consists of four reports, three of them from its Working Groups: Working Group I: The Scientific Basis; Working Group II: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability; Working Group III: Mitigation; Synthesis Report. A number of the TAR's conclusions are given quantitative estimates of how probable it is that they are correct, e.g., greater than 66% probability of being correct. These are "Bayesian" probabilities, which are based on an expert assessment of all the available evidence.
Jonathan Michael Gregory is a climate modeller working on mechanisms of global and large-scale change in climate and sea level on multidecadal and longer timescales at the Met Office and the University of Reading.
John Alexander Church is an expert on sea level and its changes. He was co-convening lead author for the chapter on Sea Level in the IPCC Third Assessment Report. He was also a co-convening lead author for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. He is a member of the Joint Scientific Committee of the WCRP. He was a project leader at CSIRO, until 2016. He is currently a professor with the University of New South Wales' Climate Change Research Centre.
Climate change affects the physical environment, ecosystems and human societies. Changes in the climate system include an overall warming trend, more extreme weather and rising sea levels. These in turn impact nature and wildlife, as well as human settlements and societies. The effects of human-caused climate change are broad and far-reaching, especially if significant climate action is not taken. The projected and observed negative impacts of climate change are sometimes referred to as the climate crisis.
Climate Change 2007, the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was published in 2007 and is the fourth in a series of reports intended to assess scientific, technical and socio-economic information concerning climate change, its potential effects, and options for adaptation and mitigation. The report is the largest and most detailed summary of the climate change situation ever undertaken, produced by thousands of authors, editors, and reviewers from dozens of countries, citing over 6,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies. People from over 130 countries contributed to the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, which took six years to produce. Contributors to AR4 included more than 2,500 scientific expert reviewers, more than 800 contributing authors, and more than 450 lead authors.
Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to the effects of climate change. These can be both current or expected impacts. Adaptation aims to moderate or avoid harm for people. It also aims to exploit opportunities. Humans may also intervene to help adjustment for natural systems. There are many adaptation strategies or options.They can help manage impacts and risks to people and nature. We can classify adaptation actions in four ways. These are infrastructural and technological; institutional; behavioural and cultural; and nature-based options.
The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) is a report on climate change created with the help of a large number of contributors, both scientists and governmental representatives. There has been considerable political controversy over a small number of errors found in the report, and there have been calls for review of the process used to formulate the report. The overwhelming majority view of scientists with expertise in climate change is that errors, when found, are corrected, and the issues as identified do not undermine the conclusions of the report that the climate system is warming in response to increased levels of greenhouse gases, largely due to human activities.
Pier Vellinga is an environmental scientist and one of the Netherlands' experts on the impacts of climate change.
Saloum Delta National Park or Parc National du Delta du Saloum in Senegal, is a 760-square-kilometre (190,000-acre) national park. Established in 1976, it is situated within the Saloum Delta at the juncture of the Saloum River and the North Atlantic.
Between 1901 and 2018, the average global sea level rose by 15–25 cm (6–10 in), or 1–2 mm per year. This rate accelerated to 4.62 mm/yr for the decade 2013–2022. Human-caused climate change is predominantly the cause, as it constantly heats the ocean and melts land-based ice sheets and glaciers. Between 1993 and 2018, thermal expansion of water contributed 42% to sea level rise (SLR); melting of temperate glaciers contributed 21%; Greenland contributed 15%; and Antarctica contributed 8%. Because sea level rise lags changes in Earth temperature, it will continue to accelerate between now and 2050 purely in response to already-occurring warming; depending on human greenhouse gas emissions, it may slow down between 2050 and 2100 with deep cuts and reach a little over 30 cm (1 ft) from now by 2100, or it may accelerate with high emissions and risk a 1 m or even 2 m by then. In the long run, sea level rise would amount to 2–3 m (7–10 ft) over the next 2000 years under the warming of 1.5 °C (2.7 °F), while 19–22 metres (62–72 ft) would occur if the warming peaks at 5 °C (9.0 °F).
The Island of Saint-Louis is the historic part of the city of Saint-Louis in Senegal. In 2000, it was inscribed by the UNESCO on the World Heritage list.
The economic impacts of climate change vary geographically and are difficult to forecast exactly. Researchers have warned that current economic forecasts may seriously underestimate the effects of climate change, and point to the need for new models that give a more accurate picture of potential damages. Nevertheless, one 2018 study found that potential global economic gains if countries implement mitigation strategies to comply with the 2 °C target set at the Paris Agreement are in the vicinity of US$17 trillion per year up to 2100 compared to a very high emission scenario. A study by the reinsurance company Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd in 2021 estimated that global climate change is likely to reduce global economic output by 11-14%, or as much as $23 trillion annually by 2050, compared with global economic output without climate change. According to this study, the economies of wealthy countries like the United States would likely shrink by approximately 7% while some developing nations would be devastated, losing around 20% or in some cases 40% of the their economic output.
Climate change and poverty are deeply intertwined because climate change disproportionally affects poor people in low-income communities and developing countries around the world. The impoverished have a higher chance of experiencing the ill-effects of climate change due to the increased exposure and vulnerability. Vulnerability represents the degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change including climate variability and extremes.
Coastal flooding normally occurs when dry and low-lying land is submerged by seawater. The range of a coastal flooding is a result of the elevation of floodwater that penetrates the inland which is controlled by the topography of the coastal land exposed to flooding. Flood damage modelling was limited to local, regional or national scales. However, with the presence of climate change and an increase in the population rates, flood events have intensified and called for a global interest in finding out different methods with both spatial and temporal dynamics.
The Marromeu Game Reserve is a protected swath of 1,500 square kilometres (580 sq mi) of floodplain in the Zambezi, the only such area along the river. It was dedicated on 1 January 1969. It is located near Beira.
Climate change in Pakistan is a major issue for the country. Pakistan is highly vulnerable to climate change. As with the changing climate in South Asia as a whole, the climate of Pakistan has changed over the past several decades, with significant impacts on the environment and people. In addition to increased heat, drought and extreme weather in parts of the country, the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas has impacted some of the important rivers of Pakistan. Between 1999 and 2018, Pakistan ranked 5th in the countries affected by extreme weather caused by climate change.
The Medina of Sousse is a Medina quarter in Sousse, Governorate of Sousse, Tunisia. Designated by the UNESCO a World Heritage Site in 1988, it is a typical example of the architecture of the early centuries of Islam in Maghreb. It encompasses a Kasbah, fortifications and the Great Mosque of Sousse. The Medina today houses the Archaeological Museum of Sousse. A number of Punic steles were discovered in the Medina, between the Ribat and the Great Mosque, in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Climate change in Vietnam is having considerable environmental, economic and social impacts. Vietnam is among the most affected countries by global climate change. A large number of studies show that Vietnam is experiencing climate change and will be severely negatively affected in coming decades. These negative effects include sea level rise, salinity intrusion and other hydrological problems like floods, river mouth evolution and sedimentation. Natural hazards such as cold waves, storm surges will increase in frequency, with negative effects on the country's development, infrastructure and economy.
Joeri Rogelj is a Belgian climate scientist working on solutions to climate change. He explores how societies can transform towards sustainable futures. He is a Reader in Climate Science and Policy at the Centre for Environmental Policy (CEP) and Director of Research at the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and Environment, both at Imperial College London. He is also affiliated with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. He is an author of several climate reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and a member of the European Scientific Advisory Board for Climate Change.