Project Name: Climate Extremes, Air Pollution and Agro-ecosystems (CiXPAG)
Donor: Centre for International Climate Change and Environmental Research CICERO Norway
Project Leader: Dr. Jana Sillmann (CICERO)
Duration: 2015-2017
Brief Description of the Project: CiXPAG will investigate the complex interactions between climate extremes, air pollution and agricultural ecosystems. Climate extremes (e.g., droughts, floods, heatwaves) and air pollution events often co-occur causing substantial losses in agricultural productivity. We do not yet fully understand how these stresses interact and what the impacts of the combined climate – air pollution effects may be for agricultural ecosystems in some of the most vulnerable parts of the world. This lack of knowledge is particularly challenging considering the threats that climate change and food security pose to society. The novel research proposed in CiXPAG will collect new experimental data and develop new modelling techniques to integrate knowledge on changes in climate extremes and air pollution to assess effects on agricultural productivity. Integration of farmers’ knowledge will enable the results to be translated into agricultural adaptation options within the particular socio-economic and political context.
CiXPAG addresses several goals of the call – climate change, pollution and ecosystems – and its objectives are on the forefront of international research. CiXPAG will build up expertise in a relatively new, but important research field for Norwegian climate research. Generated knowledge and methods can readily be applied to regions beyond the regional focus of this project. CiXPAG is an international collaboration of interdisciplinary experts, and is a gender balanced project with a female project leader.
