A combination of climate change and increasing vulnerability will conspire to increase natural hazard and risk during the current century and beyond. Great uncertainties exist, however, in terms of the temperature rises expected, the effect of warming on local, regional and global weather and climate patterns, and the impact of possible catastrophic events such as rapid sea-level rise due to the physical break up of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets. 

Climate change interests in the Centre include:

• Marine margin instabilities and environmental change
• Abrupt ‘human-scale’ global climate change
• Deep-water circulation influence on global climate
• Ocean productivity and atmospheric carbon dioxide response
• Carbon emissions estimation
• Insurance and climate change
• Climate forcing of geological hazards