UNSW06: Concurrent Hot and Dry Extremes Under Different Atmospheric Carbon Loads

Compound events (CEs) caused by a combination of multiple drivers often result in more severe socio-economic and ecological impacts than conventional events. One example for CEs with the potential to cause considerable negative impacts on crop yields and human health is the cooccurrence of hot and dry conditions. The student will work with climate model output from Earth System Models participating in the sixth round of the CMIP6 and assess what impact a gradual increase followed by a decrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide has on the occurrence frequency of hot and dry CEs.

Supervisor: Dr Nina Ridder (n.ridder@unsw.edu.au)

Weather and climate events that are caused by a combination of multiple hazards and/or drivers, so called compound events (CEs), often cause more severe socio-economic and ecological impacts than conventional, univariate events. One example for CEs with the potential to cause considerable negative impacts on crop yields and human health is the cooccurrence of hot and dry conditions. Recent studies have shown that these events are likely to occur more frequently under future atmospheric carbon concentrations. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) aims to actively remove carbon from the atmosphere to reverse anthropogenic climate change and reduce global temperature rise. How this will affect the hot and dry CEs has not been investigated.

The student will work with climate model output from Earth System Models participating in the sixth round of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) and assess what impact a gradual increase followed by a decrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide (+/-1%/year from pre-industrial to 4 ´ pre-industrial CO₂ levels and back) has on the occurrence frequency of hot and events CEs.

Requirements: Some prior programming experience (e.g. Python, Ferret, MATLAB, R, etc.) or a willingness to learn.

Period: Summer.

To apply: the Undergraduate Scholarship application form can be found here