Hail, fires, winds and heat:if big data helps us defend ourselves from extreme events

A special platform developed by the Ifab Foundation will monitor seven types of extreme weather events over time (from heat waves to extreme precipitation) and will collect information to prevent them

BOLOGNA – Big data to help prevent the effects of extreme climate events.Or at least, for prepare an adequate defense.It was born like this the 'E3CI' platform (European extreme events climate index), developed by the Ifab Foundation (International foundation big data and artificial intelligence for human development) of Emilia-Romagna, in collaboration with CMCC (Foundation Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change) and Leithà.The objective of the project is to analyze, quantify and monitor extreme weather events over time, to understand them and prevent their effects.

COMPARING THE DATA FROM 1981 TO THE PRESENT

In detail, explains the Ifab Foundation, the E3CI "is a set of indices" that provide "information on areas affected by different types of weather-induced hazards and the severity of such events."Report the data collected from 1981 to today and covers all of Europe.Seven extreme climate events are considered: heat waves;of frost; extreme rainfall;drought;extreme winds; hailstorms; fires.For each, on a monthly scale, "the estimate of an indicator allows us to identify trends and variations in the number of extreme events, allowing a better understanding of the events that have occurred".

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HYDROCLIMATIC WHIPFLASH IS INCREASINGLY WIDESPREAD

From these data it emerges that in the last 10 years there has been an increase in temperatures (the number of hot days has increased) and the so-called "hydroclimatic whiplash“, that is, long periods of drought alternating with short periods of rain and hail.In Emilia-Romagna, in particular, heat waves are four times more frequent today than 30 years ago.On the rainfall front, 90% of the months characterized by the highest values ​​are concentrated in the last decade. May 2023, for example, is the worst month ever, after February 2015.

CLIMATE DATA FOR ALL EUROPEAN COUNTRIES ACCESSIBLE ONLINE

In recent days Ifab, Radarmeteo and Hypermeteo have signed an agreement to market and distribute the E3CI climate index to provide a tool to support the activities of sectors impacted by climate change.“The index is already used on a professional level, for example by the insurance sector to better understand the areas at greatest risk - explains Marco Becca, director of Ifab - but it is accessible to anyone, free of charge, on our online site, where with a simple graphic interface historical data series can be analyzed in all European countries“.

Extreme climate events, Becca continues, “make us aware of the fact that we are on a dangerous slope and that the 'green' transition is fundamental for our future.In this context, the use of data, also made possible thanks to modern supercomputing structures, becomes increasingly important. Understanding phenomena is the basis of action.It is up to all of us, citizens, companies and policymakers, to reverse this trend. Data and digital in all its components can be the decisive resource to do this“, concludes the director of Ifab.