The Climate System (World Meteorological Organization (WMO). "Guide to Climatological Practices, WMO-No. 100", 2018.)
“Climatology is the study of climate, the workings of the climate system, its variations and extremes and its influences on a variety of activities including, but far from limited to, water resources, human health, safety and welfare. Climate, in a narrow sense, can be defined as the average weather conditions for a particular location and period of time. Climate can be described in terms of statistical descriptions of the central tendencies and variability of relevant elements such as temperature, precipitation, atmospheric pressure, humidity and winds, or through combinations of elements, such as weather types and phenomena, that are typical of a location or region, or of the earth as a whole, for any time period. Beyond being treated as a statistical entity, climate can also be studied as a determinant of, a resource for and a hazard to human activities.” (World Meteorological Organization (WMO). "Guide to Climatological Practices, WMO-No. 100", 2018.)
The climatology section of CRC constantly works to study both climatic variability and climate change, especially in Central Italy. In general, climatic variability refers to intra-seasonal, inter-annual and inter-decadal variations in climate conditions that are connected to periodic variations of atmospheric circulation, oceanic circulation and land surface properties. On the other hand, climate change refers to a systematic change in the statistical properties of climate over a long period (from decades to centuries). Such systematic changes have already occurred in the Earth’s climate history because of changes in the “natural” components regulating the climate system. However, nowadays “it is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occurred.”(Intergovernamental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, Sixth Assessment Report, 2021).
Our mission is to study climate change in Central Italy and its impact on agriculture, ecosystems, and water resources.