Indicator catalogue

Droughts are prolonged periods of abnormal dry conditions. By impacting crop systems, livestock, and water availability, droughts particularly drive risks to food security, and water security, among other things. This indicator measures the drought status in a grid cell over the past 12 months by combining the count of months in drought condition with the drought severity in the respective month.

Heatwaves are periods of abnormally hot weather, lasting for at least three days. By impacting, for example, mortality and morbidity, labor productivity, and crop yields, heatwaves particularly drive risks related to human health and food security. This indicator measures the total number of heatwave days over the past 12 months in a grid cell.

Heavy precipitation events are abnormal amounts of rainfall over a short period of time. Heavy precipitation events are hazardous events that can, for example, damage crops and drive both landslides and pluvial floods. This indicator shows the number of heavy precipitation days over the past 12 months for a grid cell.

Wildfires are unplanned or uncontrolled fires. They can cause cultural loss, damage crops, and drive pollution that affects human health. This indicator shows how many km² per grid cell were exposed to at least one wildfire in the past 12 months.

Floods can drive displacement and damage crops. This indicator counts the number of days a grid cell or parts of it have been exposed to floods over the past 12 months.

Tropical cyclones are rotating storms with strong winds and heavy precipitation. Depending on the location, they are called hurricane, typhoon, or cyclone. Tropical cyclones damage crops and built environment, drive human displacement, and cause mortality. This indicator counts how many tropical cyclones occurred in a grid cell over the past 12 months.

Droughts are prolonged periods of abnormally dry conditions. By impacting crop systems, livestock, and water availability, droughts particularly drive risks to food security, and water security, among other things. This indicator measures the drought status in a grid cell over the past 7 years by combining the count of months in drought condition with the drought severity in the respective month.

Heatwaves are periods of abnormally hot weather. They last for at least three days. By impacting mortality and morbidity, labor productivity, and crop yields, heatwaves particularly drive risks related to human health and food security. This indicator measures the total number of heatwave days over the past 7 years in a grid cell.

Heavy precipitation events are abnormal amounts of rainfall over a short period of time. Heavy precipitation events are hazardous events that can, for example, damage crops and drive both landslides and pluvial floods. This indicator shows the number of heavy precipitation days over the past 7 years for a grid cell.

Wildfires are unplanned or uncontrolled fires. They can cause cultural loss, damage crops, and drive pollution that affects human health. This indicator shows how many km² per grid cell were exposed to at least one wildfire in the past 7 years.

Floods can drive displacement and damage crops. This indicator counts the number of days a grid cell or parts of it have been exposed to floods over the past 7 years.

Tropical cyclones are rotating storms with strong winds and heavy precipitation. Depending on the location, they are called hurricane, typhoon, or cyclone. Tropical cyclones damage crops and built environment, drive human displacement, and cause mortality. This indicator counts how many tropical cyclones occurred in a grid cell over the past 7 years.

Changes in mean temperature describe the temperature in a place relative to pre-industrial level. An increase in temperature is associated with risks to human health and food security, amongst others. This indicator compares the annual mean surface temperature over the past 30 years to the annual mean surface temperature of 1850-1900 in a grid cell.

Relative sea level rise drives several coastal hazards such as coastal erosion, extreme sea levels, and freshwater salinization. This creates risk to living standards, food security, and human mobility. This indicator captures the average annual relative sea level rise [mm] from 1993-2015.

Long-term precipitation anomalies pose risks to human health, food security, and water security. This indicator captures the mean annual precipitation anomaly over the past 30 years relative to 1951-1980.

Intensity of violence measures the direct local effects of armed violence on human life. The more people die as a result of armed violence, the higher the intensity of armed conflict is assumed to be. The indicators is a combination of all individual instances of armed violence within a grid cell in a given quarter.

Surrounding violence accounts for the impact of conflicts not being limited only to the specific location where violence takes place. Not only does violence tend to spread geographically (“spillover effects”), but also the consequences of violence do, e.g. in the form of local migration or local economic effects. The indicator measures the average level of violence in close proximity to a grid cell based on the number of fatalities.

Persistence of local violence estimates the enduring level of local armed violence. It reflects the high and over time only gradually decreasing likelyhood of violence recurring. Similarly, the economic and development impacts of violence are only gradually overcome with time. This indicator reflects these patterns and gives an estimate of the persistent intensity of violence based on the recent history of armed violence for each grid cell quarter.

Persistence of surrounding violence estimates the enduring level of surrounding armed violence, accounting for the tendency of violence and its consequences to spread to and affect surrounding regions. The indicator estimates the persistent intensity of violence based on the recent history of armed violence in the geographic neighborhood for each grid cell quarter

Popular unrest in the form of public expressions of dissatisfaction and grievances like protests and riots can be an indication of existing tensions in society and may escalate into violent conflict in the future. This indicator measures the intensity of popular unrest based on the number of instances of unrest observed, taking into account the liberty to do so within a given country.

Similar to armed violence, unrest can also ignite further unrest in other locations and impact surrounding regions. Surrounding popular unrest measures the average level of unrest in close geographic proximity to a grid cell based on the number of unrest events and the ease of protesting.

Persistence of popular unrest estimates the enduring level of popular unrest. Similar to armed violence, unrest can persist for longer time periods or break out again after shorter periods of no or low activity if the underlying problems have not been addressed. The indicator estimates the persistent level of unrest based on the recent history of unrest in the geographic neighborhood for each grid cell quarter

Economic dependence on agriculture measures the importance of agriculture for a country’s economy and as a source of income for the population. Higher dependency increases vulnerability, as agriculture is sensitive to climate and conflict hazards. This indicator combines data on agricultural employment and the sector’s contribution to GDP.

Economic deprivation reflects local economic capacity on a reversed scale. Lower economic capacity increases vulnerability to climate and conflict hazards by reducing the ability to invest in adaptation, provide disaster relief, and absorb shocks. This indicator is measured as a fraction of GDP for each grid cell on a reversed scale.

Educational vulnerability indicates how deficiencies in education contribute to susceptibility to adverse outcomes. Higher education levels improve the ability to prepare for and cope with hazards, while lower education levels increase vulnerability. This indicator measures education levels as the average years of schooling, presented on a reversed scale.

Health vulnerability reflects the susceptibility to adverse outcomes stemming from poor health and healthcare systems. Health status affects the capacity to cope with or adapt to hazards, with poor health being a key driver of vulnerability. The health indicator is based on life expectancy at birth, presented on a reversed scale.

Economic inequality captures the degree to which societies’ resources are unevenly distributed. High levels of inequality often reflect reduced capacities of those disadvantaged to adapt to climate change, react to climate hazards, and protect themselves during conflicts. Inequality is captured by income distributions within countries.

Food insecurity indicator measures the lack of or instable availability, access and utilization of food. Food insecurity weakens people's ability to withstand and recover from shocks, rendering them less resilient compared to well-nourished populations. This indicator combines country and sub-national data on malnutrition.

Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment of people based on gender. Discriminatory formal and informal norms, rules and values might render women more vulnerable to hazards, for example, by restricting their movement and access to resources. This indicator combines various gender inequality indicators, taking into account a range of political and socio-economic inequalities.

The institutional vulnerability indicator measures institutional reliability and rule of law, as markers of good governance, on a reversed scale. Weak institutions increase vulnerability by leading to inefficient resource distribution, reducing coping and adaptation capacity, and potentially fueling grievances and conflict. This indicator is based on external indices of corruption and rule of law.

Political system vulnerability measures the fairness and inclusiveness of, and citizen participation within a political system on a reversed scale. Less inclusive systems increase vulnerability, as policy decisions are less likely to account for all societal groups. This indicator combines external measures of electoral democracy and political rights in a country.

Civil rights deprivation measures the individual rights and liberties of citizens in a political system on a reversed scale. Countries with fewer liberties are assumed to be more vulnerable, as dissenting opinions are less likely to be heard and taken into account when addressing disaster risks. The indicator is constructed by combining measures of civil liberties at the country level.

Ethnic marginalization measures the extent to which specific ethnic groups are excluded from political power. Such exclusion can cause discrimination and inequality in resources, services, and opportunities, increasing the exluded groups’ vulnerability. This indicator combines the number of locally relevant politically excluded groups with the level of protection of minority rights in a country.

This indicator captures persons within a society forcibly uprooted from their homes and in need of assistance. Often marginally integrated into society with inadequate public support, displaced populations live in precarious conditions with limited access to services, leaving them more vulnerable than hosts. This indicator captures the share of forcibly displaced population within a country.

This indicator captures population-related pressure on public and natural resources. Rapid population growth drives vulnerability as it strains public resources, increases competition over jobs and resources and intensifies environmental pressure. The indicator is measured via the relative change in population over time, counting all residents regardless of their legal status or citizenship.

This indicator highlights the pressure on public resources linked to non-working-age individuals (dependents). Dependents (children and elderly), are more vulnerable to hazards due to their unique characteristics; a high age dependency ratio also increases economic pressure on the workforce and public resources. This indicator measures dependents as a share of the working age population.