Climate change

Climate change at the heart of regional issues

While climate change is a global and universal phenomenon on a global scale, its effects and consequences differ from region to region. The territory of the PACA region, due to its Mediterranean climate with hot and arid summers and mild winters, will experience profound climatic changes in the years to come that will have an impact on its population.

For the Provence-Alpes-Côte d' Azur region, the warming would be 1.9°C to 4.6°C by the end of the century, according to socio-economic scenarios.
This warming will be noticeable in all seasons.

  • Milder winters can mean, for example, a decrease in the number of frost days per year.
  • Already hot summers in the region could experience an increase in temperature of up to 5.7°C and increasingly frequent heat wave situations.

By way of comparison, in Aix-en-Provence, the deviation from the seasonal normal at the time of the 2003 heat wave was +3.5°C.

 

A drastic decrease in soil water reserves is also expected due to the increase in evaporation due to rising temperatures.

In the mountains, snow cover has already decreased and this phenomenon is expected to increase in the future.

Extreme events such as intense rainy episodes and the floods that often result from them regularly affect southern France.

 

GREC PACA

"The regional expert group on climate in Provence-Alpes-Côte d' Azur (GREC-PACA) aims to centralize, transcribe and share scientific knowledge on climate and climate change in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d' Azur region. The priority objective of the group is to inform managers and decision-makers in the territory (elected representatives and technicians of local authorities, protected areas, large facilities, etc.) with a view to better understanding and taking account of scientific results in public policies.