KlimaTag 2019

KlimaTag 2019 is an event being held in Vienna at the Technical University of Vienna (24 April 2019) and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna (25-26 April 2019). The program contains a number of keynotes, poster presentations and scientific sessions featuring leading climate experts and researchers in Austria. 

On 25 April 2019, panelist for the Keynote session "Get out of the comfort zone! Science for society?" will include Thomas Schinko and IIASA Distinguished Visiting Fellow Helga Kromp-Kolb. Schinko will also be presenting a poster during the 12:00-14:00 session on "Identifying roles, responsibilities and options in climate risk management by employing role-play simulations: the case of flood risk in the "Zukunftsraum Lienzer Talboden.""

Linda See will be presenting the results from year one of the ADAPT-UHI project on 25 April 2019, which is a project funded by the Austrian Climate Research Program (ACRP). The ADAPT-UHI project aims to provide support to small- and medium-sized cities in Austria with regards to the problem of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. In particular, through urban climate simulations, the three pilot cities involved in the project (Klagenfurt, Moedling and Salzburg) can visualize where the main UHI problems exist and what adaptation measures can help to decrease the impacts of the UHI in the future.

See will give a 5 minute flash talk, summarizing the current progress of ADAPT-UHI followed by a discussion with ACRP panel members to ensure that the project is on track. The project will also be presented in a session on 'Impact' that is moderated by Kromp-Kolb during the evening of 25 April 2019, which will be open to the public. Finally, a project poster will be displayed during coffee and lunch breaks, when conference participants will have a chance to view information about ADAPT-UHI.  

A number of results will be presented at the conference. The first is the urban climate model simulations for the three pilot cities (Klagenfurt, Moedling and Salzburg). Several adaptation scenarios have been run, which can be grouped into a 'white city' or 'green city'. The white city involves adaptation measures that change the albedo of the roofs, walls and streets so that the surfaces reflect more sunlight and hence are cooler. The green city involves adding more greenspaces and trees to the city. Other project outputs include the development of an Austrian-wide UHI risk index at a 100 m resolution and green/blue quality maps of each of the pilot cities, which show the cooling effects from buildings, vegetation and water in the city.  

Hugo Valin will be delivering a presentation by Amanda Palazzo on alternative global development scenarios for West Africa developed by regional stakeholders and quantified using two global economic models, GLOBIOM and IMPACT on the basis of the climate change research community’s shared socioeconomic pathways. This process will be presented as an example of linking comparable scenarios across levels to increase coherence with global contexts, while presenting insights about the future of agriculture and food security under a range of future drivers including climate change.

On 26 April 2019, Reinhard Mechler is part of the Keynote session "Climate crisis or catastrophe? Weather extremes and dealing with it" that will be moderated by Sabine Fuss. 

Last edited: 24 April 2019