Climate change hotspots in the CMIP5 global climate model ensemble
Stanford University · The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)
Abstract
We use a statistical metric of multi-dimensional climate change to quantify the emergence of global climate change hotspots in the CMIP5 climate model ensemble. Our hotspot metric extends previous work through the inclusion of extreme seasonal temperature and precipitation, which exert critical influence on climate change impacts. The results identify areas of the Amazon, the Sahel and tropical West Africa, Indonesia, and the Tibetan Plateau as persistent regional climate change hotspots throughout the 21st century of the RCP8.5 and RCP4.5 forcing pathways. In addition, areas of southern Africa, the Mediterranean, the Arctic, and Central America/western North America also emerge as prominent regional climate…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 17.88
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 38
Authors
2Topics & keywords
- Climate change
- Climatology
- Global warming
- Forcing (mathematics)
- Environmental science
- Climate model
- Mediterranean climate
- Hotspot (geology)
- Climate action