Unlocking the power of climate storylines
Expert(s) |
Henrique Moreno Dumont Goulart
In a world where extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change, understanding the link between meteorological events and their societal consequences is crucial. A new thesis, of Deltares expert Henrique Moreno Dumont Goulart, delves into the emerging method of storylines—narratives that connect past climate events with their causes, impacts, and future alternatives under various plausible scenarios.
Transforming complex data into actionable information
The storylines approach offers a unique way to assess risks and inform adaptation strategies, going beyond traditional meteorological models to consider societal impacts, infrastructure, and adaptation solutions. The frameworks developed can be applied across different societal areas, including agriculture and flood risk management.
Henrique: “The work on storylines transforms complex climate data into simple and actionable information, supporting decision-makers in making smarter adaptation decisions for a more resilient future. Working with other researchers from Deltares helped me to transfer knowledge from fundamental sciences (the climate sciences) into societal-relevant context, such as how to use this information into coastal adaptation or resilience. I have used the software models HydroMT, SFINCS and FloodAdapt to generate these frameworks that bring climate information all the way to economic damage and climate adaptation”.
Mitigating risks
By integrating adaptation options into the storyline method, the research demonstrates how various strategies—such as flood protection and accommodation—can mitigate risks and reduce residual impacts. The ability to quantify the effectiveness of these strategies offers decision-makers concrete tools for planning coastal adaptation and improving resilience to climate extremes.
This research of Henrique significantly contributes to bridging climate science with practical impact assessment and adaptation planning. By using storylines to assess future risks, including climate variability and compound events, the thesis provides actionable insights that can better inform policy, planning, and risk management under climate change.
This research was made possible through the EU project RECEIPT. This project has received funding form the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and Innovation programme.
Livestream
Henrique will defend his Thesis on Monday 27 January at the VU Amsterdam, at 13.45 hours. You can follow his defence live though this livestream on Youtube: VU Beadle's Office - YouTube.
