Valerio Lembo

I am interested in various aspects of climate dynamics, mainly those affected by and affecting energy budgets and transports, and the interaction between heat and momentum. I develop methods to diagnose the thermodynamics and the general circulation of the atmosphere, as a way to contribute bringing the basic principles of physics into the climate modeling debate. I use methods from statistical mechanics and dynamical systems theory to explore the response of the climate system to external forcings, the role of internal variability and long-term predictability.

Employment History

(2016-2020) CEN, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany: Postdoctoral Researcher

(2016) CINFAI, Lecce, Italy: Research Assistant

(2015) ETH Zürich, Switzerland, Academic Guest

Education

(2013-2016) University of Salento, Lecce, Italy: Ph. D. in Ecology and Climate Change

(2010-2012) University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy: M. Sc. in Physics of the Atmosphere and Meteorology

(2006-2009) University of Rome "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy: B. Sc. in Physics and Astrophysics

Publication List

2024

• Faranda, D. Messori, G., Alberti, T., Alvarez-Castro, C., Caby, T., Cavicchia, L., Coppola, E., Donner, R. V., Dubrulle, B., Galfi, V. M., Holmberg, E., Lembo, V., Noyelle, R., Yiou, P., Spagnolo, B., Valenti, D., Vaienti, S. and Wormell, C. 2024, Statistical physics and dynamical systems perspectives on geophysical extreme events, Phys. Rev. E, 110, 4, 041001, doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.110.041001
• Liu, Z., C. L. E. Franzke, L. Novak, R. Tailleux, and V. Lembo, 2024: A Systematic Local View of the Long-Term Changes of the Atmospheric Energy Cycle. J. Climate, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-24-0106.1, in press
• Galfi, V. M., Alberti, T., De Cruz, L., Franzke, C. L. E., and Lembo, V., 2024, Review article: Interdisciplinary perspectives on climate sciences – highlighting past and current scientific achievements, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 31, 185–193, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-31-185-2024
• Fabiano, F., Davini, P., Meccia, V., Zappa, G., Bellucci, A., Lembo, V., Bellomo, K., and Corti, S., 2023, Multi-centennial evolution of the climate response and deep ocean heat uptake in a set of abrupt stabilization scenarios with EC-Earth3, Earth Syst. Dynam., 15, 527–546, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-527-2024

2022

• Lembo, V., Fabiano, F., Galfi, V.M., Graversen, R., Lucarini, V., and G. Messori, 2022, Meridional energy transport extremes and the general circulation of NH mid-latitudes: dominant weather regimes and preferred zonal wavenumbers, Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 1037–1062, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1037-2022
• Franzke, Christian LE, Franzke, C. L., Blender, R., O’Kane, T. J., and V. Lembo, 2022, Stochastic Methods and Complexity Science in Climate Research and Modeling, Frontiers in Physics, 521
• Ragone, C., Lembo, V., Lucarini, V., Vérard, C., Kasparian, J., and M. Brunetti, 2022, Robustness of competing climatic states, J. Atm. Sciences, 35(9), 2769-2784

2021

• Faranda, D., Alberti, T., Arutkin, M., Lembo, V., and V. Lucarini, 2021, Interrupting vaccination policies can greatly spread SARS-CoV-2 and enhance mortality from COVID-19 disease: The AstraZeneca case for France and Italy, Chaos, 31(4), 041105
• Qiyun, M., Lembo, V., and C.L.E. Franzke, 2021, The Lorenz energy cycle: trends and the impact of modes of climate variability, Tellus A: Dyn Met and Oc, 73:1, 1-15

2020

• Vissio, G., Lembo, V., Lucarini V., and M. Ghil, 2020, Evaluating the Performance of Climate Models Based on Wasserstein Distance, Geophys. Res. Lett., 47, e2020GL089385
• Lembo, V., Ragone F., and V. Lucarini, 2020, Beyond Forcing Scenarios: Predicting Climate Change through Response Operators in a Coupled General Circulation Model, Sci Rep 10, 8668
• Eyring, V. et al., 2020, Earth System Model Evaluation Tool (ESMValTool) v2.0 – an extended set of large-scale diagnostics for quasi-operational and comprehensive evaluation of Earth system models in CMIP, Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 3383–3438

2019

• Lembo V., Lunkeit F., and V. Lucarini, 2019, TheDiaTo (v1.0) – A new diagnostic tool for diagnosing water, energy and entropy budgets in climate models, Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 3805–3834
• Lembo V., Messori G., Graversen R., and V. Lucarini, 2019, Spectral decomposition and extremes of atmospheric meridional energy transport in the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes, Geophys. Res.Lett., 46, 7602-7613
• Lembo V., Folini D., Wild M., and P. Lionello, 2019, Inter-hemispheric differences in energy budgets and cross-equatorial transport anomalies during the 20th Century, Clim. Dyn., 53: 115

2018

• Faranda D.,Lembo V., Kuzzay D., Daviaud F. and B. Dubrulle, 2017, Computation and characterization of local energy transfers in atmospheric flows, J. Atm. Sciences, 75, 2175–2186

2017

• Lembo V., Bordi I., and A. Speranza, 2017, Annual and semiannual cycles of midlatitude surfacetemperature and baroclinicity: reanalysis data and AOGCMs simulations, Earth Sys. Dyn., 8, 295-312

2016

• Lembo V., Folini D., Wild M. and P. Lionello, 2016, Energy budgets and transports: global evolutionand spatial patterns during the 20th Century in two AMIP-like experiments, Clim. Dyn., 48, 1793-1812

Editorial activity

• Oxford Open Climate Change: guest editor (Special Collection: "Mapping Unknown Territories: Extreme Events and Their Impacts in a Changing Climate")
• Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics: guest editor (Special Collection: "Interdisciplinary perspectives on climate sciences – highlighting past and current scientific achievements")
• Frontiers in Climate: review editor

Media

• 28/02/2023: "Geoingegneria climatica: la nostra ultima spiaggia? La lettera aperta degli scienziati" (interview on Icona Clima website)
• 01/01/2022: "Niente alibi per il clima" (interview on Viversani & Belli)
• 27/10/2021: "Una previsione da Nobel (contribution to "Chi ha Paura del Buio" Facebook page)
• 25/10/2021: "The 2021 Nobel Prize on Physics awarded to the physics of complex systems!" (blog post on EGU NP website)
• 21/07/2023: "Un nuovo clima normale che sembrava impossibile (contribution to "Chi ha Paura del Buio" Facebook page)