StartClim - A starting point for climate research | Umweltbundesamt

StartClim2003: Determination of the probability of extreme events in different regions of Austria from the climate scenarios calculated with global climate models (GCM). With the help of a clustering process, seven weather conditions are derived from and by a canonical correlation analysis on a monthly basis, as well as (analogously) on a daily basis, at the regional level , with robust results

StartClim2004: With the aid of different methods, such as statistical approaches and synoptic "downscaling", future scenarios for the north-east of Austria, are created from the global climate model ECHAM/4 for two different periods. In addition, the results of the regional climate modelling from the PRUDENCE project is analysed for Austria.

Extreme events for precipitation and temperature, temperature reference parameters, duration of heat wave, duration of drought

Research periods 1989-2018, 2019-2048 and 2070-2100

StartClim2003: Mild winters without extreme temperatures (particularly in February) are beneficial for winter cereals and wine. Excessively dry spring weather is particularly disadvantageous for spring cereals while dry weather in the harvest months reduces losses at the time of harvest. Dry, hot summers are unfavourable for sugar beet and maize, to a lesser extent also for potato (losses in summer 2003 up to 30%). In conjunction with extreme weather events, agriculture will need to deal with adverse consequences caused by, for example, floods, mudslides, avalanches and drought.

StartClim2004: A strong increase in the number of very hot days has consequences for human health through increasing numbers of heat-related illnesses or deaths, for agriculture and forestry, for glacier tourism, for recreational activities on the lakes, and a variety of other sectors of the economy. The normally dry and rather warm weather period in the autumn no longer occurs in Austria as reliably as it once did, which can affect the tourism industry negatively In agriculture, dependable good weather stretches with stable working conditions will occur more and more rarely, while grapes may lack those last few vital days of sunshine before harvesting. Other aspects are a lowering of concentration at school due to heat waves, and performance reductions through heat in industry and commerce, which can result in a decline in productivity and an increased risk of accidents.

StartClim2005: Direct consequences arise particularly for the city of Vienna, in the form of a temperature-induced, increased mortality rate. Indirect consequences can arise, for example, in the form of an altered drinking water supply or the introduction of problematic neophytes (such as the potent Ambrosie), which, in Austria, presents a significant health risk.

StartClim2006 analyses the effects of the climate change on human health, on the tourism and leisure industries and on energy consumption.

StartClim2007 analyses the consequences of climate change in Austria by means of case studies, e.g. consequences for snow coverage and average depth, consequences for Alpine summer tourism, for health risks in the population by a depletion of the stratospheric ozone, for pest insect adaptation in crop farming, for the forests, for the conversion of carbon and nitrogen in the soil as well as for the drainage of glaciated catchments with respect to storage power plants.

The aim of the StartClim activities is to initiate research projects to assess individual economic sectors with regard to their sensitivity, vulnerability, mitigation and adaptive capacity. For example, water suppliers need to diversify in their field in order to reduce their vulnerability to extreme events.

The purpose of StartClim is to research and provide answers on action-relevant issues such as the socio-economic implications of the observed temperature trends and the calculated future climate scenarios, the expected impact on human health, as well as the necessary adaptation possibilities in the economically important sectors of tourism and agriculture. The projects of StartClim2008 and 2009 focus on the adaptation to climate change, in order to support the Austrian adaptation strategy.

Objectives:

• Objectives of the adaptation measures in StartClim2003:

- Improvement of risk transfer systems of insurances for major catastrophes;

- The development of integrated adaptation strategies with technical, spatial planning, organizational, economic, climate and educational measures;

- Creation of a catalogue of recommendations for action for politics, such as promotion of awareness in the general population;

- Fiscal and regulatory measures through integrated spatial planning

- Measures for securing supply lines in the event of a disaster;

- Improvement of flood warning systems;

• Objectives of StartClim2005: Derivation of measures with different priorities, building on damage assessments, to make sure that an interruption of the drinking water supply becomes less likely Securing supply lines as part of general precautions against disasters caused by extreme events (small planning or organizational measures)

• Objectives of StartClim2008: Definition and testing of adaptation measures in the health sector for groups with a high vulnerability, assessment of mortality rate statistics for heat waves (e.g., hospital admissions vs. deaths at home). Assessment of effectiveness of earlier measures for educating and informing the population (e.g., have heat warnings led to a measurable reduction in the mortality rate?) Assessment of the effectiveness of the soil protection measures under changed climate conditions in the future, with regard to erosion mitigation and water retention. Development of planting and structuring variants for agriculture and land use scenarios for arable land on the basis of the developed climate change scenarios. Economic assessment and balance of these variants with regard to their set-up and maintenance costs, potential benefits and production potential (particularly from the point of view of work economics). Conversion of the scientific basis for decision-making into possible landscape structuring implementations in eastern Austria, supporting the adjustment of agricultural land use to climate change.

• The objectives of the projects in StartClim2009 are to support of the Austrian adaptation strategy.