Today, wherever we look, we are targeted with titles that have an effect on the problem of climate change. Despite the enormous complexity of the problem, it is quite certain that in recent years we are experiencing an increase in the average temperature of the planet with the consequent progressive reduction of the cryosphere (polar ice and glaciers) and an increase in extreme weather events.

Everyone's needs would be to clarify what is happening by trying to understand the complex relationships that bind the various elements of the "Earth System”. To do this it is necessary to appropriate how the various scientific disciplines act to investigate climate changes that have occurred in the past as well as to understand what they could determine in the present and perhaps implement actions to adapt to these changes.

In the project CLIMATE CHANGE: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE the MIT students will investigate the causes and effects of climate change with the help of research conducted in the laboratories of the Department of Science and Technology of the University of Sannio.

In particular, as regards climate changes that have occurred in the past, the MIT students will be analyzed, also in the laboratory and in the field:

• the climatic changes of the Quaternary,
• methods of investigation for the recognition of these changes,
• the causes of climatic changes.

In order to understand, instead, what is happening in the present, the knowledge and experience of the proponent, Prof. Alessio will be exploited. He has contributed to international climate change conferences (COP 21 in Paris and COP24 in Katowice) and collaborates with leading Italian experts. More specifically, the MIT students will try to evaluate, also with the possibilities to manage data bank:

• the current climate change trends taking place both globally and locally,
• the effects of climate change, also in terms of disasters,
• the role of man in climate alteration.

Finally, to understand future scenarios (see IPPC) the following theme will be focused together to the MIT students:

• analysis of future estimates from the most recent climate models,
• the adaptation of cities to climate change,
• coastal cities facing the expected sea level rise.

A general understanding of Climate Change is necessary since the Earth's climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era — and of human civilization. Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives. In order to identify these latest changes several disciplines of Earth sciences contribute. Among these geology look for in the recent deposits the overlapping of marine sediments on continental series, or geomorphology recognize the traces of sea transgressions on the coastal landform or again paleontology identify the invasion of cold species in a temperate region.

In the present Earth-orbiting satellites and other technological advances have enabled scientists to see the big picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and its climate on a global scale. This body of data, collected over many years, reveal the signals of a changing climate. The historical series of local meteorological stations also show not only increases in temperatures but decreases in precipitation.