CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON STORM SURGE LEVELS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

Global warming is expected to drive environmental changes throughout the XXI century. In coastal environments it results in increasing extreme sea levels and flooding risk (Oppenheimer, 2019). Coastal environments are generally characterized by a high population density, by important socio-economic activities, by the presence of trading nodes both by sea and land and by important infrastructure, therefore they can be considered a crucial place for the development and the life of modern society. So, due to their importance, protective actions must be taken to preserve these regions. Among the different coastal hazards, storm surge has a great impact in determining the extreme sea levels which can lead to flooding phenomena with consequent damage to the anthropic environment in which they occur (Tebaldi, 2021). Therefore, it is important to investigate future trends, using climatic projections, to help to prioritize adaptation efforts, assessing which region may see an increase in coastal flooding frequency in the future due to the changing climate. This work presents the outputs of a high spatial and temporal resolution storm surge model for the entire Mediterranean basin capable of reproducing storm surge conditions starting from atmospheric hindcast datasets as well as future climatic projections of wind and pressure.