The effects of climate change on hailstorms

Raupach, Timothy H.; Martius, Olivia; Allen, John T.; Kunz, Michael; Lasher-Trapp, Sonia; Mohr, Susanna; Rasmussen, Kristen L.; Trapp, Robert J.; Zhang, Qinghong (2021). The effects of climate change on hailstorms. Nature reviews earth & environment, 2(3), pp. 213-226. Springer Nature 10.1038/s43017-020-00133-9

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Hailstorms are dangerous and costly phenomena that are expected to change in response to a warming climate. In this Review, we summarize current knowledge of climate change effects on hailstorms. As a result of anthropogenic warming, it is generally anticipated that low-level moisture and convective instability will increase, raising hailstorm likelihood and enabling the formation of larger hailstones; the melting height will rise, enhancing hail melt and increasing the average size of surviving hailstones; and vertical wind shear will decrease overall, with limited influence on the overall hailstorm activity, owing to a predominance of other factors. Given geographic differences and offsetting interactions in these projected environmental changes, there is spatial heterogeneity in hailstorm responses. Observations and modelling lead to the general expectation that hailstorm frequency will increase in Australia and Europe, but decrease in East Asia and North America, while hail severity will increase in most regions. However, these projected changes show marked spatial and temporal variability. Owing to a dearth of long-term observations, as well as incomplete process understanding and limited convection-permitting modelling studies, current and future climate change effects on hailstorms remain highly uncertain. Future studies should focus on detailed processes and account for non-stationarities in proxy relationships.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Review Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography
08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography > Physical Geography > Unit Impact
10 Strategic Research Centers > Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR)
08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography > Physical Geography
10 Strategic Research Centers > Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR) > MobiLab

UniBE Contributor:

Raupach, Timothy Hugh, Romppainen-Martius, Olivia

Subjects:

900 History > 910 Geography & travel
500 Science > 550 Earth sciences & geology

ISSN:

2662-138X

Publisher:

Springer Nature

Funders:

[30] Schweizerische Mobiliar Genossenschaft

Language:

English

Submitter:

Yannick Barton

Date Deposited:

24 Feb 2022 16:24

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:48

Publisher DOI:

10.1038/s43017-020-00133-9

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/152719

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/152719

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