+39 0862 433012 / 433073
Fax: +39 0862433089
cetemps@strutture.univaq.it

Conferenze

Conferenze

Apr
10
Mer
Michele Brunetti (CNR-ISAC): “Snow duration shrinking in the Alps over the past six centuries: a dendroclimatological reconstruction.” @ Aula 0.1, Edificio Alan Turing
Apr 10@11:30–12:30
Michele Brunetti (CNR-ISAC): "Snow duration shrinking in the Alps over the past six centuries: a dendroclimatological reconstruction." @ Aula 0.1, Edificio Alan Turing

Abstract

Snow cover in the Alpine region has strong effects on the Earth’s climate, environmental processes, and socio-economic activities. Over the last 50 years, the region experienced a reduction of 5.6% per decade in snow cover duration (Matiu et al., 2021), a phenomenon already affecting a region where the economy and culture revolve, to a large extent, around the winter season. To frame this trend in a multi-century context of climate change it is necessary to use indirect measures. However, to date, a proxy sensitive to this variable capable of providing a robust reconstruction with annual resolution has not yet been identified. In a recent work (Carrer et al., 2023), we have identified for the first time in a shrub that grows with a prostrate habit (Juniperus communis L.) in high altitude areas, a proxy sensitive to snow cover. By analysing 572 ring-widths series of common juniper (living and relict) sampled at high altitude in Val Ventina, in the province of Sondrio, it was possible to reconstruct the duration of the snow cover for the last six hundred years. These data show that current snow cover duration is more than a month shorter than the long-term average, a decline that is unprecedented in the past six centuries. These findings highlight the urgent need to develop adaptation strategies for some of the most sensitive environmental and socioeconomic sectors in this region.

Bibliography

Carrer, M., Dibona, R., Prendin, A. L., Brunetti, M. (2023). Recent waning snowpack in the Alps is unprecedented in the last six centuries. Nature Climate Change, 13(2), 155–160.

Matiu, M. et al. Observed snow depth trends in the European Alps: 1971 to 2019. (2021). Cryosphere 15, 1343–1382.

Bio

Michele Brunetti is director of research at the Italian National Research Council – Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC). He got a degree and a PhD in Physics at the Bologna University. His research field is mainly focused on climate reconstructions and analysis for Italy, for the Greater Alpine Region and for the whole Euro-Mediterranean area, within a time frame of about 200 years (with longer instrumental records dating back to early 18th century). Recently he established many contacts with the proxy community, participating to climate reconstructions over a longer temporal horizon mostly with tree rings, pollens and alpine ice-cores. He taught Climatology at the Ferrara University for Academic Years from 2005/2006 to 2009/2010 and at the Bologna University for Academic Years from 2009/2010 to 2020/2021. He authored or co-authored more than 100 papers on peer reviewed journals.

Streaming

Streaming: https://www.univaq.it/live

Locandina

 

Condividi

Apr
10
Mer
Michele Brunetti (CNR-ISAC): “Snow duration shrinking in the Alps over the past six centuries: a dendroclimatological reconstruction.” @ Aula 0.1, Edificio Alan Turing
Apr 10@11:30–12:30
Michele Brunetti (CNR-ISAC): "Snow duration shrinking in the Alps over the past six centuries: a dendroclimatological reconstruction." @ Aula 0.1, Edificio Alan Turing

Abstract

Snow cover in the Alpine region has strong effects on the Earth’s climate, environmental processes, and socio-economic activities. Over the last 50 years, the region experienced a reduction of 5.6% per decade in snow cover duration (Matiu et al., 2021), a phenomenon already affecting a region where the economy and culture revolve, to a large extent, around the winter season. To frame this trend in a multi-century context of climate change it is necessary to use indirect measures. However, to date, a proxy sensitive to this variable capable of providing a robust reconstruction with annual resolution has not yet been identified. In a recent work (Carrer et al., 2023), we have identified for the first time in a shrub that grows with a prostrate habit (Juniperus communis L.) in high altitude areas, a proxy sensitive to snow cover. By analysing 572 ring-widths series of common juniper (living and relict) sampled at high altitude in Val Ventina, in the province of Sondrio, it was possible to reconstruct the duration of the snow cover for the last six hundred years. These data show that current snow cover duration is more than a month shorter than the long-term average, a decline that is unprecedented in the past six centuries. These findings highlight the urgent need to develop adaptation strategies for some of the most sensitive environmental and socioeconomic sectors in this region.

Bibliography

Carrer, M., Dibona, R., Prendin, A. L., Brunetti, M. (2023). Recent waning snowpack in the Alps is unprecedented in the last six centuries. Nature Climate Change, 13(2), 155–160.

Matiu, M. et al. Observed snow depth trends in the European Alps: 1971 to 2019. (2021). Cryosphere 15, 1343–1382.

Bio

Michele Brunetti is director of research at the Italian National Research Council – Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC). He got a degree and a PhD in Physics at the Bologna University. His research field is mainly focused on climate reconstructions and analysis for Italy, for the Greater Alpine Region and for the whole Euro-Mediterranean area, within a time frame of about 200 years (with longer instrumental records dating back to early 18th century). Recently he established many contacts with the proxy community, participating to climate reconstructions over a longer temporal horizon mostly with tree rings, pollens and alpine ice-cores. He taught Climatology at the Ferrara University for Academic Years from 2005/2006 to 2009/2010 and at the Bologna University for Academic Years from 2009/2010 to 2020/2021. He authored or co-authored more than 100 papers on peer reviewed journals.

Streaming

Streaming: https://www.univaq.it/live

Locandina