REGIONALIZATION OF THE TERRITORY OF BELARUS BY THE DEGREE OF CLIMATE VULNERABILITY

Abstract

This article examines the issue of assessing the climate vulnerability of the territory of the Republic of Belarus in the context of contemporary climate change. The methodological framework employed is a system of dimensionless climate indices that takes into account extreme and average values for air temperature, precipitation and wind speed. Calculations were performed using data from 45 meteorological stations for the period 1989–2024. The resulting values of the climate vulnerability index were used to classify the administrative regions of Belarus into four vulnerability degree: low, moderately low, medium and high. It was found that the most vulnerable areas are concentrated in certain Northern, North-Eastern and South-Western Regions of the country, whereas the Central and part of the South-Western Regions are characterized by lower index values. The results of the study have enabled the climatic zoning of the territory of Belarus and can be used in the development of regional measures for adaptation to climate change.