Amaury LARIDON
I am fascinated by the complex dynamics of climate, tipping points, and extreme climate events, as well as the responsibility of scientific research to produce results that can inform future collective societal changes. I completed all my higher education at UCLouvain, where I began with a Bachelor's degree in Physical Sciences (2018-2021). I then obtained a certificate in philosophy (2022) and completed a Master's degree in Physical Sciences with a specialization in climatology (2022-2024). My master's thesis, under the supervision of Prof. Michel Crucifix, focused on developing a simplified dynamics emulator to investigate cascading collapses of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) within a climate model.
I secured funding from the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO) in November 2024, which enabled me to begin a PhD with the bclimate research team at VUB, under the supervision of Prof. Wim Thiery.
My PhD research focuses on assessing the first projections of climate extremes in the 22nd century following potential tipping point transgressions. Using the human lifetime exposure metric developed by Thiery et al.(2021), we will evaluate the exposure of future generations (our children and grandchildren) to events like heatwaves, droughts, and floods due to global warming and likely collapses of the AMOC, the Amazon rainforest, and permafrost. Finally, I will assess how 'carbon bombs' (megaprojects of fossil fuel extraction currently underway or planned) may expose future generations to tipping points and climate extremes.
Alongside my main research, I am also active as a climate activist and advocate for issues such as feminism, anti-racism, social justice and solidarity with the Palestinian people.
PhD research
Projecting 22nd Century Impacts of Climate Extremes Following Possible Tipping Point Transgression
Despite occurring within the lifetimes of current newborns, no projections of human exposure to climate extremes for the 22nd century exist to date. However, future generations are likely to experience a nonlinear increase in climate extreme events in case irreversible tipping points are crossed. The Amazonian rainforest, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, and the permafrost are tipping elements undergoing an initiation of collapse, with a complete collapse potentially occurring by the end of the 22nd century. The TIPPIMPACTS project will conduct the first study of lifetime exposure to heatwaves, heat stress, extreme precipitation, floods, and droughts for the 22nd century, considering the effects of potential tipping point transgression and commissioned fossil fuel megaprojects. More specifically, the research will (i) project climate extremes from 2100 to 2200 using a state-of-the-art Earth System Model (ESM), (ii) pioneer the incorporation of tipping elements within an ESM, (iii) assess human lifetime exposure to climate extremes considering the combined effect of global warming and tipping elements for the 22nd century, and (iv) evaluate the responsibility of ongoing fossil fuel megaprojects in influencing the tipping points of these elements and their associated impacts on climate extremes. The results of this research will be crucial for practical approaches to concrete mitigation and adaptation strategies for the world of our (grand)children.
