Our researchers are investigating if and how climatic extremes or climate changes, along with other causal factors, have contributed to historical conflicts over the past two millennia and what light this casts on potential exacerbation of future conflict.

"Princeton researchers have provided the first estimation of the potential damage from back-to-back, or compound, heat waves, which the authors found will increase as global warming continues. But government warning systems and health care outreach do not currently calculate the risks of sequential heat waves. Instead, risk and response are determined by the severity of individual episodes of extreme temperatures."

As environmental changes and extreme weather begin to affect people's ability to produce food, generate income, or live safely in their homes, one common adaptation response is to migrate to a new place with the hopes of increasing household or personal livelihood and security. Our researchers are looking at a range of scenarios to understand what factors affect people's decisions to migrate in relation to climate change influences, what the broader impact of these migration choices may be, and what forward-looking policies governments can adopt.

As global average temperatures increase, melting of polar ice sheets is expected to accelerate sea-level rise. Coastal flooding that results from these changes and related extreme weather events, like hurricanes, entail substantial monetary, environmental, and human costs. Our researchers are undertaking studies to better estimate and plan for the potential effects of sea-level rise at different warming scenarios, as well as analyses of decision-making regarding large infrastructure projects, smaller-scale accommodations like building floodable infrastructure, and retreat from the coast, that could help reduce the impact of sea-level rise.