Climate Hazards research theme

Understanding climate
for the benefit of society

icon climate hazards

Extreme events and abrupt changes to the climate system.

Research focus

We focus on understanding the causes and dynamics of extreme events and abrupt changes in the climate system, including identifying critical thresholds, understanding how such events develop, and what consequences they have. Furthermore, we are working towards improving predictions of the likelihood, extent and impact of climate hazards, and are collaborating with stakeholders in private and public sectors.

Some of our research questions are:

How will gradual climate change and thresholds in the climate system impact the frequency and severity of climate hazards?
How does internal climate variability contribute and influence the extremes? How does model bias influence the prediction of extremes?
Will the current committed warming trigger abrupt changes in sea level rise due to ice sheet collapse?
What can we learn from extreme events, circulation changes, and warm climates of the past?
To what extent can society and industry adapt to extreme events, including flooding, sea level high stands, landslides and storms?

Keywords: Tipping points, extreme weather, sea level rise, abrupt climate changes, glacier stability.

Strategic projects

CLIFORD - CLImate change and sustainability in Norwegian FjORDs
SeaPR - Sea Level Projection and Reconstruction Unit

tyfon i mexicogolfen, satellittbilde

New PhD thesis solves mysteries around large abrupt climate changes

Henrik Sadatzki defends on Friday 15.02.2019 his thesis for the PhD degree at the University of Bergen. The thesis is entitled: “Sea ice variability in the Nordic Seas over Dansgaard–Oeschger climate cycles during the last glacial – A biomarker approach”.

Caroline Clotten defends on Thursday, December 7th 2017 her PhD dissertation at the University of Bergen with the title: "Pliocene sea ice evolution in the Iceland and Labrador Sea – A biomarker approach".