COST Action 734: Impacts of Climate Change and Variability on European Agriculture (CLIVAGRI)

Climate plays a fundamental role in agriculture due to its direct and indirect influence on production. Physical, chemical and biological processes are regulated by specific climatic requirements, and any deviation from these patterns may exert a negative influence. Furthermore, European agriculture, based on highly developed farming techniques, is mainly oriented to high quality food productions, that are more susceptible to meteorological hazard impacts. There is considerable evidence that regional variations in climate, particularly the rise of temperature, have already affected plant systems, increasing the hazard impacts. At times climate variability can exceed a defined threshold, determining an extreme event. The perceived severity of said event depends on the vulnerability of the natural environment and human society. These events always cause very extensive or local hazards with high intensity: drought, frost, windstorms, heat waves, cold injury, fire, heavy precipitation, floods, snow, wind and hail. On these grounds it is possible to emphasis that climate variations can affect the complex agricultureclimate system, by influencing its main biological, chemical and physical elements. Therefore all the management and planning aspects of agricultural activity must be considered and adapted to climate change and variability with specific short and long term strategies with respect to crop protection, watering, fertilisation, plant breeding, production, site selection, etc. In this context, COST Action provides the best framework for achieving an integrated approach while also exploiting the activities currently performed at national and international levels in this field. The wide-ranging participation of experts indicates a well-established European network which is critical for providing users with internationally acknowledged hazard impact assessments of climate change and variability.