Disaster effects of climate change and the associated scientific challenges

作者：Yan Wang, Hao Wang, Peng Cui, Deliang Chen, Jinbo Tang, Tinghai Ou, Jiansheng Hao, Jiao Wang, Guotao Zhang, Yu Lei, Chunhao Wu · 发表于：Chinese Science Bulletin (Chinese Version) · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1360/tb-2023-0325 · 被引用次数：33 · 研究领域：Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research、Flood Risk Assessment and Management、Climate variability and models

Climate change can be observed in various spheres of the Earth’s system, including atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and cryosphere. The interactions among these spheres collectively impact the changes of the climate system. Natural disasters represent the most intense manifestation of the interactions among the Earth’s spheres, and they have profound impacts on human society. In this study, we discuss the impact of climate change on natural disasters by examining the characteristics of climate change-induced hazards and the activity patterns of natural disasters. Furthermore, the response mechanisms of natural disasters to climate change are elaborated by exploring the formation and evolution of different types of natural disasters. Additionally, the future trends of disaster-pregnant environment under climate change are estimated, and the future trends of disaster risk are revealed by jointly considering the exposure and vulnerability. The main driving forces and formation conditions of natural disasters vary greatly among different geomorphic units, but they can generally be classified into three categories: Thermally driven disasters, gravitationally driven disasters, and hydrologically driven disasters. For example, heatwaves, tropical cyclones, tornadoes, and wildfires are common examples of thermally driven disasters which are forced by high temperatures or great thermal gradients. In addition, gravitationally driven disasters mainly occur in mountainous ...