Europe’s climate is changing and will continue to change. But how can we help citizens, businesses, local authorities and governments assess the risk and prepare for the changes to come?
A dried-up river in northwestern Spain: droughts in Iberia and other parts of Europe are presenting increasing challenges to agriculture and local communities. Picture: Adobe Stock.
The European Union funded ASPECT project is ‘bridging the gap’ between weather predictions and long-term climate projections. Jaroslav Mysiak is a climate risk scientist with the ASPECT project, focussing on real-world applications. He is also principal scientist at Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change in Venice. He said: “Through the ASPECT project we are looking to provide complementary insights climate projections and seamless prediction across timescales to support effective decision making.
“By enhancing climate models, improving data assimilation, and encouraging meaningful academic exchanges the ASPECT project aims to empower society with reliable, high-resolution and tailored outcomes across the full span of timescales from weather through to climate.”
Dr Freya Garry, of the Met Office, is a key part of the ASPECT project. She said: “Europe is already being rocked by climate impacts. We have seen temperatures of 40C in the UK, drought and heatwaves regularly impact large parts of the continent, and extreme rainfall events pose a significant threat to life and infrastructure as demonstrated by the devastating floods in Valencia last year.
“Seamless climate information can provide the best window on the future world, and being able to harness the results and make them available to those who need to make individual or societal decisions is a really important part of the ASPECT project.”
To explore the latest seasonal-to-decadal prediction science and its real-world application, the ASPECT project is holding the third edition of its annual User Forum on 25 to 27 March 2025 at 14:00-15:30 CET, an event dedicated to developing innovation, collaboration, and advancement around future climate information.
The three-day event, focusing on “Advancing climate adaptation with seamless and tailored climate predictions”, explores the latest seasonal-to-decadal prediction science and its real-world applications. It consists of three sessions, dedicated to users and providers of climate services, as well as wider stakeholders and citizens.