Mediterranean climate regions of the world are located in transitional midlatitude zones like the Mediterranean basin, western North America and small coastal areas of western South America, southern Africa and southern Australia. This transitional character makes them highly vulnerable to climate change. In all these Mediterranean climate regions, the future holds high risks and uncertainty on biodiversity, aridity, ecosystems, and on the sustainability and resilience of socio-economic systems. Innovative approaches to develop and test effective and sustainable climate adaptation and mitigation are, therefore, required. Understanding the past, characterizing the present and modeling the future are essential steps to estimate the risks and to assess the impacts of climate change.
This session intends to strengthen the exchanges among the communities studying the Mediterranean climate regions of the world to promote a multi-disciplinary approach in identifying and preparing shared solutions and practices. Studies of observed past changes and/or future climate projections focused on physical (including extremes, teleconnections, hydrological cycle) and biogeochemical (including biodiversity) aspects of Mediterranean climate regions are welcome. Similarly, climate change related social aspects including indigenous knowledge in mitigating climate risks are well received. Analyses where multiple Mediterranean climate-type regions are considered and compared are highly appreciated. In addition, as a multidisciplinary MedCLIVAR session we encourage contributions from a broad range of disciplines and topics dealing with dynamics and processes of the climate system, sectoral impacts of climate change, climate change adaptation and innovative methods and approaches in climate science.