Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity. After several decades of research into the issue of global warming, there is now an almost absolute consensus that the climate system is experiencing a warming process as a result of greenhouse gas emissions of human origin. This consensus is based, firstly, on the inexorable evidence from observations of past and recent climate evolution, and secondly, from physical models of the climate system. In fact, climate models constitute the most powerful tool for projecting the evolution of our climate from global to regional and even local scales. The Mediterranean region, and in particular Portugal, is one of the areas in the world considered most vulnerable to climate change, which gives great relevance to quantifying climate change in Portugal in the 21st century, and its associated impacts on our society, and in particularly in areas of greatest vulnerability, such as health, coastal areas, water resources, agro-forestry and fires. For Portugal, projections cumulatively point to a significant increase in temperature, a decrease in precipitation and a huge amplification of climate extremes, such as heat waves and droughts. These transformations constitute an immense challenge for Portugal, and particularly for the most vulnerable population groups.
References:
Soares PMM, JAM Careto, DCA Lima, A Russo (2023) The future of Iberian droughts: a deeper analysis based on multi-scenario and a new multi-model ensemble approach. Natural Hazards 117:2001–2028. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-023-05938-7.
Cardoso RM, Lima DC and Soares PMM (2023) How persistent and hazardous will extreme temperature events become in a warming Portugal?. Weather and Climate Extremes, 41, p.100600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2023.100600.
Soares PMM and Lima DC (2022) Water scarcity down to earth surface in a Mediterranean climate: The extreme future of soil moisture in Portugal. Journal of Hydrology, 615, p.128731. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.128731.
moderator
speakers
Lídia Serra
Lídia Serra is a clinical and health psychologist and neuropsychologist, with an international doctorate in Neuropsychology from the University of Salamanca, receiving the extraordinary doctorate award from the same university. He has an official master's degree in Neuropsychology from the University of Salamanca, a master's degree in Clinical and Health Psychology and a degree in Psychology from the University of Évora. She also has a postgraduate degree in Health Statistics from the Faculty of Sciences of Universidade Nova de Lisboa. She has worked in various intervention contexts as a psychologist, held management positions, namely coordinating the 1st cycle in Psychology at ISEIT – IP de Almada, was deputy director of the same institution, member of academic bodies and study cycle evaluation committees. She is an active member of the OPP, supervisor of professional internships and works in private practice. She is currently an Assistant Professor at UAL.
Speaker
speakers
Pedro Matos Soares
Pedro Matos Soares is a Researcher at the Instituto Dom Luiz (IDL) and Assistant Professor in the Department of Geographical Engineering, Geophysics and Energy, both at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. His PhD in Physics focused on turbulence and clouds in atmospheric models. Over the last 3 decades he has focused his research efforts on climate modeling, climate change, and energy and sustainability, leading the IDL research group Climate change, atmosphere-land-ocean processes and extremes. He was an active member in 12 international (PI of 1) and 13 national (PI of 5) projects and coordinates the Portuguese CORDEX team endorsed by WRCP. He is currently the scientific coordinator of the EEA grants project “National Roadmap for Adaptation 2100 – Assessment of the vulnerability of the Portuguese territory to climate change in the 21st century (RNA 2100)” and the “Regional Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change in the Alentejo”. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the PhD Program in Climate Change and Sustainable Development Policies and the Scientific Council of the Portuguese Council for Environmental Health. In the context of climate change and its impacts, it has strong collaboration with institutions such as the Lisbon City Council (Lisbon-Enova), the Health authorities, the Portuguese Environment Agency, E-REDES, and many others. He has published more than 120 scientific articles in refereed international journals and carried out hundreds of international communications and outreach. In 2020 he received the University of Lisbon/Caixa Geral Depósitos award for scientific production in the last 5 years in Earth Sciences, and in 2022 the Prize from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon in Earth Sciences.
