Assessing climate impact indicators:Evaluation criteria and observed strengths and weaknesses
2016
Costa, Luis | Hildén, Mikael | Kropp, Jürgen | Böttcher, Kristin | Fronzek, Stefan | Swart, Rob | Otto, Juliane | McCormick, Niall | Radojevic, Milka | Lückenkötter, Johannes | Keup-Thiel, Elke | Luojus, Kari | Singh, Tanya | Pöyry, Juha | Sanchez, Emilia | Juckes, Martin
This report documents and reviews a selected set of climate change and impact indicators. They are documented according to reference criteria that were based on a literature study and later refinement in expert discussions. Methodological description, data requirements and availability, treatment of uncertainty, fitness for purpose of indicator time series, and seven other relevant criteria are documented for a total of 81 climate change and impact related indicators. The indicators were grouped into three tiers that reflect their main purpose of use, ranging from change in climate variables to the socio-economic consequences of climate change. A key observation is the limited availability of indicators that explicitly link climate change with socio-economic phenomena. This might be explained by the complexity of the system that hinders quantitative attribution of economic and multi-level societal development to climatic factors. The strengths and weaknesses of indicators are discussed at a general level and also outlined both on an indicator-by-indicator basis and with respect to their potential uses. The report presents a consistent set of criteria and approaches for the incorporation of indicator information into climate information portals. The collected information on climate change and impact indicators can support the development of the Copernicus Climate Services and the indicators that such services will promote.
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