Compound Extreme Precipitation and Temperature Trend Analyses from Local
to Continental Scale across Europe
Abstract
Evaluating the combined effect of different climatic variables supports
the understanding of the increasing multifaceted risk of climate-related
disasters. This contribution proposes a combined trend analysis of
precipitation-related (precipitation total, PRCPTOT; maximum one-day
precipitation, RX1day) and temperature-related (minimum of daily minimum
temperature, TNn; mean of daily mean temperature, Tmean; maximum of
daily maximum temperature, TXx) indices at the annual scale from 1955 to
2023, both at local (Southern Italy, using ground-based observations)
and continental (pan-European EURO-Cordex domain, using ERA5-Land data)
scales. While showing substantial consistency between the different
datasets, the results imply that at the continental scale, three main
regions along a latitudinal gradient can be considered regarding
increasing/decreasing trends towards both PRCPTOT and RX1day. At the
same time, much more homogeneous increasing trends of temperature
indices are observed in Europe. Nevertheless, the detailed scale
analysis highlights the need for higher resolutions to capture
significantly impacting local counter-trends.