GADAL is part of CLIM-NET, a new project working to understand how different parts of the world’s climate system influence one another. By studying long-distance climate connections—known as teleconnections—we aim to uncover hidden links that shape weather, ecosystems, and life on Earth.

 

Within this project, the GADAL Lab focuses on one of the most important questions of our time: how plants and climate interact. We explore issues that directly affect people, agriculture, and the environment, including:
 

• Can large-scale forestation or deforestation really change the climate? And if so, how quickly?

• How might global food production shift as the climate continues to change?

• How does global warming affect the health of forests, including their susceptibility to insects and fungi?

• How will rising temperatures influence the global spread of fungi, and what does this mean for the future of trees and forests?

To address these questions, we use advanced tools from network science, machine learning, and climate modeling. CLIM-NET also treats clouds and vegetation as interconnected networks, helping us better understand how extreme weather events form and how they can trigger cascading effects across different regions.

 

One of the key insights driving our work is that extreme weather often harms agriculture more than slow, gradual warming. As climate variability increases, understanding these risks becomes even more important for global food security.

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CLIM-NET is led by Bar-Ilan University with partners at Ben-Gurion University, the Weizmann Institute of Science, and the Nuclear Research Center – Negev. Together, we aim to build a clearer picture of how our planet’s systems interact—and what that means for the future.