Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- The significance of weather and climate extremes to society: an introduction
- I Defining and modeling the nature of weather and climate extremes
- 1 Definition, diagnosis, and origin of extreme weather and climate events
- 2 Observed changes in the global distribution of daily temperature and precipitation extremes
- 3 The spatial distribution of severe convective storms and an analysis of their secular changes
- 4 Regional storm climate and related marine hazards in the Northeast Atlantic
- 5 Extensive summer hot and cold extremes under current and possible future climatic conditions: Europe and North America
- 6 Beyond mean climate change: what climate models tell us about future climate extremes
- 7 Tropical cyclones and climate change: revisiting recent studies at GFDL
- II Impacts of weather and climate extremes
- Index
- Plate section
- References
3 - The spatial distribution of severe convective storms and an analysis of their secular changes
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 September 2009
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- The significance of weather and climate extremes to society: an introduction
- I Defining and modeling the nature of weather and climate extremes
- 1 Definition, diagnosis, and origin of extreme weather and climate events
- 2 Observed changes in the global distribution of daily temperature and precipitation extremes
- 3 The spatial distribution of severe convective storms and an analysis of their secular changes
- 4 Regional storm climate and related marine hazards in the Northeast Atlantic
- 5 Extensive summer hot and cold extremes under current and possible future climatic conditions: Europe and North America
- 6 Beyond mean climate change: what climate models tell us about future climate extremes
- 7 Tropical cyclones and climate change: revisiting recent studies at GFDL
- II Impacts of weather and climate extremes
- Index
- Plate section
- References
Summary
Condensed summary
Severe convective storms are responsible for billions of US dollars in damage each year around the world. They form an important part of the climate system by redistributing heat, moisture, and trace gases, as well as by producing large quantities of precipitation.
Reporting of severe convection varies from country to country, however, so determining their distribution from the reports alone is difficult, at best. Evidence does exist that the intensity of some events, particularly tornadoes, follows similar distributions in different locations, making it possible to build statistical models of occurrence. Remote sensor observations provide some insight, but the relationships between the observable parameters and the actual events of interest limit the quality of the estimates. Another approach is to use observations of the larger-scale environments.
As has been stated, the relationship between the observation and the event limits the estimate, but global coverage is possible. Time series of the favorable environments can also be developed from such data. In order to improve the estimates, the most pressing need is for better observational data on events. Very few countries have formal systems for collecting severe thunderstorm reports. A new effort by a consortium of researchers in Europe to develop a continent-wide database offers the possibility of a significant improvement in data for that part of the world.
Introduction
Convective storms play a vital role in weather and climate. They act to redistribute heat, moisture, and trace gases in the vertical and in the horizontal.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Climate Extremes and Society , pp. 35 - 53Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008
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