Bridging natural and social sciences to study societal responses to extreme weather events

Convener: Simona MeilerECSECS | Co-conveners: Viktoria Cologna, Sandra ZimmermannECSECS, Roman Hoffmann, Alessia MatanoECSECS, Tesse de BoerECSECS, Taís Maria Nunes CarvalhoECSECS

Extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones, heatwaves, and floods threaten populations around the world. Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of many extreme weather events, which can combine with community exposure, inequalities, and vulnerabilities to cause substantial harm, including forced migration, human displacement, and other societal impacts. There is a growing literature at the intersection of the natural and social sciences studying the impacts of extreme weather events on populations, as well as people’s behavioral, attitudinal, and emotional responses.

In some contexts, particularly fragile and humanitarian settings where exposure, vulnerability, and institutional capacity are constrained, extreme weather events may interact with societal stressors such as conflict or political instability, producing compound and cascading risks. These dynamics pose particular challenges for risk assessment, forecasting, and anticipatory action. Addressing them requires closer integration of natural and social sciences, combining advances in hazard assessment and forecasting with insights into societal exposure, vulnerability, behaviour, mobility, and decision-making.

Yet only few studies are currently harnessing the full potential of interdisciplinary collaborations in this space, and several challenges pertaining to the choice of methods and the scale of analysis (e.g., regional, national) remain underexplored. This session provides a platform for interdisciplinary contributions that bridge natural and social sciences to better understand societal impacts of, and responses to, extreme weather events and related compound hazards.

We invite contributions including, but not limited to, studies of:
- Migration and displacement due to extreme events
- Environmental attitudes and behaviors influenced by extreme events
- Health and wellbeing effects of climate change and extreme events
- Food production and security in relation to extreme weather
- The interplay between climate change, environment, and conflict
- Anticipatory action and risk-informed decision-making for humanitarian preparedness and response;
- Methodological challenges to interdisciplinary collaborations