Research themes and activities

The activity of the CIRC is based around a series of linked research themes, each focussing on a different dimension of Climate Change Impacts. Examples of some of our themes are listed below. We anticipate a series of new themes will emerge and be listed here in the coming months as we build on existing and emerging strengths in Climate Impacts research at Durham.

Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Climatic Change

The distribution of Earth’s ecosystems is defined, at the broad scale, by climate. Humans depend on these ecosystems for ‘Ecosystem Services’ such as water, removal of carbon dioxide, maintenance of soil fertility, provision of oxygen, food, energy etc. Biodiversity is a key factor for these services and although it includes much that appears redundant when environmental conditions are stable that redundancy is the key to the capacity of species and ecosystems to respond to changing environmental conditions. Thus, with ongoing human-induced changes in climate and biodiversity there is a pressing need to understand the impacts of climate change on ecosystems. Durham researchers have internationally-recognised strength in understanding past and present ecosystem change, and have begun to develop expertise in modelling these changes.

Ice Sheets and Sea-level

One of the societally most important impacts of climate change is the ongoing and accelerating rise in global sea level. The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have recently become the dominant contributor to sea-level rise, overtaking contributions of thermal expansion of the ocean and melt from small glaciers. But the processes affecting ice sheets, and the way sea-level itself changes in a spatially non-uniform way are complex. Moreover, the process of sea-level rise impacts on coasts and coastal communities in diverse ways. To understand all of these we need a combination of field data, modelling, and interaction between scientists and social scientists. Durham has world-leading strength in ice sheet and sea level science and is increasingly using quantitative modelling to translate the ice sheet or sea-level research into more tightly focussed coastal impacts research.

Climate Security, Vulnerability and Resilience

The physical impacts of climate change are important but there is growing recognition of the need to understand better how they translate into social impacts. For example, how will climate change exacerbate or create vulnerability and challenge forms of human and national security in different parts of the globe? In this context, adapting to climate change must go beyond simple technical fixes or coping mechanisms, but requires responses that range from enhancing resilience to the more radical transformation of socio-ecological systems. This field of research is underdeveloped conceptually and empirically. Durham has already recognised this potential and has started making a small number of appointments in the broad area of Security, vulnerability and resilience (e.g. through IHRR and DEI) but there is significant scope to accelerate this and create a leading international profile by creating critical mass around (a) offering social science perspectives that work across these different concepts and which seek to move beyond the current focus on issues of rural adaptation and national security; (b) engaging in interdisciplinary research that works across the sciences, social sciences and arts / humanities in order to more fully understand just what responding to climate change might entail; and (c) developing research that seeks to place climate resilience within a broad framework that considers adaptation challenges in concert with those of mitigation.