Review article: The growth in compound weather and climate event research in the decade since SREX

Abstract

Compound weather and climate events occur when multiple drivers or hazards combine to create societal or environmental risks. Many high-impact weather and climate events, such as simultaneous heatwaves and droughts, are compound in nature, leading to more severe consequences than individual events. This review examines the growth of compound event research in the decade since the IPCC Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) in 2012, which built on existing approaches to highlight the need to better understand compound events. A systematic review catalogues 366 peer-reviewed papers published between 2012–2022, revealing an annual average increase of 60 % of papers across the decade, particularly on multivariate (co-occurring) events. Most studies focus on Europe, Asia, and North America, with significant gaps in Africa, South America, and Oceania. The review highlights certain modulators, such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, and selected event types, including compound floods and high-temperature low-precipitation events, as the most studied in the literature. The review recommends expanding research in underrepresented regions and studying a broader range of typologies, events, and modulators. It also calls for greater cross-disciplinarity and sectoral collaboration to improve our understanding of compound event impacts and manage the evolving risks in a changing climate.