Projects
CroClimGoGreen - Croatian climate variability and change – from global impacts to local green solutions
| Project website | https://www.pmf.unizg.hr |
| Title | CroClimGoGreen - Croatian climate variability and change – from global impacts to local green solutions |
| Abstract | Increased urban growth significantly alters land and atmosphere properties. Although, urbanization brings many benefits for the society by improving the standards of living, it is also associated with unwanted environmental, social and economic consequences. One such concern is Urban Heat Island (UHI), the phenomenon characterized by considerably higher air temperatures in urban areas as compared to the surrounding suburban and rural areas. Cities are one of critical areas where the climate change is expected to have severe impacts and UHI effects are directly related to global warming. Although a global phenomenon, climate change with all associated manifestations and consequences are felt locally exerting added stress on urban areas. Expected further increase of global temperatures would strongly influence the habitability of cities with significant impacts on human health, infrastructure, energy supply, water demands and ecosystems. Moreover, interaction between urban micro-climates and large-scale climate variability (e.g. heat-waves, North Atlantic Oscillation, El-Niño Southern Oscillation) may amplify the UHI effect and therefore increase the heat stress leading to more unpleasant urban environment for its inhabitants with potential negative economic, health and social consequences.
Climate variability and manifestations of climate change in Croatia with potential impact on urban environment are in the focus of this project. |
| Project objective | The main goal of this research is investigating urban heat island of Zagreb based on observed data and also by performing numerical simulations for the current and future climate conditions. The project also includes investigation of UHIs related to other cities in Croatia, which will be selected in the following project phase. The selection of cities will be based on the experience obtained for Zagreb and availability of data which are necessary to create corresponding digital domains and for model parameters. Of particular interest will be to perform similar investigations for different geographical regions with distinct characteristics (local climate, topography complexity, city size, vicinity of the Adriatic Sea etc.). Also, the purpose of the project includes estimation of possible impact of climate change on urban environment and analysis of efficiency of urban planning strategies. In particular, the potential for implementing of blue and green infrastructure in the city will be explored.
Moreover, contribution of large-scale climate variability and teleconnections will be examined as well. Possible synergistic interaction between large-scale climate variability and urban micro-climate will be considered with a purpose to study potential UHI amplifying. It is expected that results obtained in this part of the project will offer analysis of possible synergistic interaction between large-scale climate variability and urban micro-climate. Awareness of their effects and potential predictability can help urban areas to improve their climate resilience. |
| Key words | Urban climate, urban heat island, climate variability, climate change, sustainable development in the cities, blue and green infrastructure. |
| Contact person from DHMZ | mr. sc. Melita Perčec Tadić, DHMZ, +385 1 45 65 638, e-mail: melita.percec.tadic(at)cirus.dhz.hr |
| Duration | 15/2/2018 - 14/2/2023 |