Most extensive study on climate change in Slovenia published

On the occasion of the publication of the study, the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU), which participated in the study, noted the exceptional variety of climate in Slovenia despite the country's small size.

The climatic conditions in Slovenia range from the Mediterranean climate in the southwest and the Alpine climate in the north and northwest to the moderate continental climate in the central and eastern parts of the country, it said.

Climatic diversity results in high natural and cultural diversity, while at the same time posing new challenges to science and technological development as individual and specific landscapes are adapting to global climate and social changes.

Expected to help address these challenges is the study, as part of which researchers collected and analysed data on climate change in Slovenia throughout the Holocene, the period that began after the end of the Last Glacial Period, 11,700 years ago.

The study also involved the Jožef Stefan Institute, the Ljubljana Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, and the Forestry Institute, and is based on the results of programmes and projects financed by the Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS) for several decades.

The study provides insight into the manner the natural systems and human communities have adapted to a changing climate over millennia, and how quickly this process took place.

It has found that climate in the lands of present-day Slovenia has undergone significant fluctuations, which affected the size of glaciers, lake water surface elevation, frequency and volume of floods and changes in vegetation.

Matej Lipar of the Anton Melik Geographical Institute of the ZRC SAZU noted that "understanding climate change in the Holocene ... is key for all of us, as this will help understand how ecosystems and societies can adapt to climate change".

As part of the study, the researchers took a closer look at the "natural climate archives", which include sedimentary rock strata, tree rings, stalactites and stalagmites, and pollen and spores of extinct and existing plants.

The study pays special attention to the frozen part of the Earth's surface, including glaciers, snow, ice in caves and other parts of the cryosphere environment.

Jure Tičar, an expert in this field who also comes from the same institute as Lipar, noted that changes in this part of the Earth's surface, such as the melting of glaciers and shrinking of the snow cover, directly reflect climate change.

These are an important indicator of global warming trends, and at the same time, these major changes also result in changes in trends in river discharges and the abundance of sources.

"These findings are key to the health and natural balance of ecosystems, the supply of quality drinking water, the incidence and severity of natural disasters, the use of water in agriculture or electricity supply," Tičar added.

The authors of the study note that the extensive review of climate change also shows that the current knowledge about the Holocene climate in Slovenian regions is only scratching the surface.

Many questions about extraordinary climatic events and their impact on the environment in Slovenia are yet to be answered, so further basic research is required, they add.

The full study is available on the website of the institute's Acta Geographica Slovenica journal at the following link: https://ojs.zrc-sazu.si/ags/article/view/12798.