Risk workflows#
Different risk workflows are used within the CLIMAAX framework to evaluate and analyze the climate risks on a particular area. The main goal of the risk workflows is to identify and understand the potential adverse effects of different climate-related hazards, allowing for the development of adaptation sustainable strategies. Each workflow follows a ‘stepwise’ data processing scheme to calculate risk as a combination of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability information:
Hazard: Source of potential harm leading to an adverse impact. In the context of climate risk assessment, hazards are often associated with natural or human-induced phenomena, such as floods, droughts, heatwaves, wildfires, storms, and snow events.
Exposure: Extent to which a particular area, population, or system is exposed to the identified climate hazards. This involves assessing the physical presence and characteristics of elements at risk in the area of interest. In the context of climate risk assessment, exposure can be understood as the extent to which a community, ecosystem, or infrastructure is likely to be affected by a hazard.
Vulnerability: Susceptibility or predisposition of a system to experience harm or adverse impacts. It includes the characteristics of a community, system, or environment that make it more or less able to cope with a hazard. Vulnerability is influenced by various factors, including social, economic, environmental, and institutional conditions.
Different workflows have been proposed over the years for assessing climate risk. Within the CLIMAAX toolbox, we implemented this main ones:
Product between Hazard, Exposure, and Vulnerability
Damage analysis based on damage curves, Hazard, and Exposure
Exposed assets or population to a certai climate-related hazard
These workflows will allow for the climate risk assessment using both historical information and future climate change scenarios to better understand the range of possible outcomes and identify sustainable adaptation strategies.