Professor Dann Mitchell
MPhys(Leic.), PhD(R'dg)
Current positions
Professor of Climate Science
School of Geographical Sciences
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
My research focus is concerned with global and regional climate change on scales of 100 years in the past, to 100 years in the future. Specifically, I research how climate change alters the atmospheric circulation, extreme events, and impacts on human health. I look at attribution of past climate trends and extreme events, and projected changes under future greenhouse gas emission scenarios. My particular focus at the moment is on how low emission scenarios, consistent with the aims of the Paris Agreement on climate change, may impact society through changes in health (heat waves, cold snaps).
Focused research topics include:
- Stratospheric dynamics (mainly the polar vortex)
- Mid-latitude dynamics and the relationship to extreme weather.
- Temperature related health issues.
- Attribution of past climate, and projections of future climate.
- Extreme value statistics.
- Planetary atmospheres in the solar system.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
UNSEEN heatwave mortality
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
To estimate 'plausible' heat-related mortality that could have been in the 2022 record-breaking UK heatwave had the weather pattern been different. Project funded by Elizabeth Blackwell Institute and Cabot Institute…Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
01/06/2023 to 31/05/2024
Heat-Health Impact Forecasting For National Heatwave Plan
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
This is a seed-corn project in which the investigators will couple short-range temperature forecasts with established temperature-mortality models, to pave the way for future research and development of a new…Dates
14/11/2022 to 14/03/2023
Physical and mental health toll of food insecurity due to climate change: A pilot exploration of Uganda and South Africa
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
Governments of 193 countries agree that 17 Sustainable Development Goals should be achieved by 2030. The top three are no poverty, zero hunger and good health and wellbeing. This work…Managing organisational unit
School for Policy StudiesDates
03/05/2021 to 30/07/2021
Thesis supervisions
Unchartered waters: attributing rainfall and flooding events across different spatial-temporal scales
Supervisors
Projecting the Reoccurrence of Major Caribbean Hurricanes under the Paris Agreement Goals
Supervisors
Quantifying the contribution of ocean mesoscale eddies to low oxygen extreme events.
Supervisors
Modelling the evolution of Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland, from 2009 to 2017
Supervisors
The dynamics of polar vortices and jets on Mars and beyond
Supervisors
Recent temperature changes over Africa from multiple observational products
Supervisors
Investigating the uncertainties surrounding the future of extreme extratropical cyclones, specifically in the North Atlantic Ocean
Supervisors
Through the AI of the Storm
Supervisors
Publications
Recent publications
09/01/2025Detecting Rising Wildfire Risks for South East England
Climate Resilience and Sustainability
No detectable decrease in extreme cold-related mortality in Canada from Arctic sea ice loss
Environmental Research Letters
Seasonal Evolution of Titan's Stratospheric Tilt and Temperature Field at High Resolution from Cassini/CIRS
The Planetary Science Journal
Why we still don’t know the mounting health risks of climate change
Nature
Dissecting the effect of long-term exposure to air pollution on risk of dementia in UK Biobank.
Dissecting the effect of long-term exposure to air pollution on risk of dementia in UK Biobank.
Related people
Professor Paul Bates
Professor of Hydrology
School of Geographical Sciences
Professor Nick Teanby
Professor of Planetary Science
School of Earth Sciences
Dr Eunice Lo
Research Fellow in Climate Change and Health
Cabot Institute
Dr Peter Watson
Senior Lecturer
School of Geographical Sciences
Dr Emily Ball
Technical Researcher
School of Geographical Sciences