WSL Research Programme Extremes 2021-2025

In the near future, extremes will be the new normal.

Driven by globalization and climate change, the frequency and severity of extreme events will likely increase over the coming decades. While some impacts can be anticipated, other consequences for environment and society are still unclear. How can we prepare for something we have no experience of? This is where the WSL Research Program Extremes comes in. By fostering inter- and transdisciplinary research – bringing scientists and stakeholders from various disciplines and sectors together to think the unthinkable – this program aims to develop appropriate decision-making tools and coping strategies to address future extremes.

The WSL Research Program Extremes (2021-2025) fosters inter- and transdisciplinary research to equip Swiss stakeholders with appropriate decision-making tools and coping strategies to address future extremes.

The Extremes program will focus on events that are rather infrequent and irregular yet likely cause massive impacts on the environment and society. It therefore targets at impacts for which most of us lack experience. While we have a general understanding of the impacts of single drivers, such as for instance the effects of summer drought on runoff, our knowledge on the timing, the specific impacts, and their confounding effects is more limited. Most impact assessments still rely on a linear extrapolation of known drivers on impacts also under extreme conditions. However, this approach does not fully capture the mechanisms behind. In fact, extreme impacts will most likely occur in response to abrupt, compounded or interacting changes in drivers, which often result in non-linear and tipping point behavior. This program aims at thinking the unthinkable in order to prepare for rare and extreme events with significant consequences.

The last years have shown several cases of dramatic environmental and societal impacts in response to single or interacting drivers of change. The summer of 2018 for instance has exhibited a severe and lasting drought and heatwave, which has impacted ecosystems and society. Such environmental and societal impacts are specifically challenging for stakeholders, since their management and mitigation decision cannot easily draw from past experience. Reaching tipping points for the first time or when being confronted with non-linear behaviors, management experience is rarely at hand. Science is therefore challenged to support national and regional stakeholders by providing updated knowledge, predictions, projections or early warning systems to better cope with future extreme impacts. In addition, there will be demand for expanded portfolios of tools, best-practices, guidelines, concrete solutions and input for coping strategies to mitigate, manage or respond to future extremes.

The Extremes program is highly inter- and transdisciplinary in nature. The complexity of the topic can only be tackled through collective effort with stakeholders.

Please contact us to join the discussion. Let’s think together!