Natural Hazards―Lessons from The Past and Contemporary Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

During recent decades, extreme weather and climate events have been a major concern and have the potential to have a highly destructive impact on society and ecosystems. The focus of this Special Issue will be put on meteorological and climate-related hazards that have a profound impact on the environment, society, and human health. Since the relationship of human beings to the thermal environment is very complex, this requires a more comprehensive consideration, especially during extreme weather events.

According to the simulations from the IPCC report (2013), air temperature will continue to rise throughout the 21^st century. The extreme weather events (heat and cold waves, droughts, extreme precipitation, and extremely wet periods) are being studied using different indices that can be compared worldwide. Furthermore, extreme weather events are studied by using biometeorological indices that take into account not only air temperature but also other meteorological parameters such as atmospheric moisture, wind, cloud cover, and solar irradiance, as well as the energy balance of human beings.

On the other hand, precipitation is one of the most important natural factors responsible for soil erosion in the landslide context. Rainfall is one the main drivers of soil erosion. The erosive force of rainfall is expressed as rainfall erosivity. Soil erosion is among the eight soil threats listed within the Soil Thematic Strategy of the European Commission (EC, 2006). During the past decade, the problem of soil erosion has become part of the environmental agenda in the European Union (EU) and other countries due to its effects on food production, drinking water quality, ecosystem services, mud floods, eutrophication, biodiversity, and carbon stock shrinkage. Many studies point out that prolonged periods of extreme weather events could be responsible for the erosivity process, thus highlighting the necessity for its thorough investigation.

This Special Issue will be focused on research associated with the natural hazards—lessons from the past and contemporary challenges—international scientific conference, held in Novi Sad, Serbia from 5–7.10.2018 organized by the Serbian Academy of Science and Arts (Branch in Novi Sad) and Department of Geography, Tourism, and Hotel Management; Faculty of Sciences; University of Novi Sad. The objective of the meeting was to bring together researchers to exchange experiences on the given topic.

Prof. Andreas Matzarakis
Dr. Biljana Basarin
Dr. Tin Lukić
Guest Editors

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• Climatological hazards
• Meteorological and biometeorological hazards
• Extreme weather events
• Rainfall erosivity
• Drought
• Aridity
• Hydrometeorological events