By coordinating the design and distribution of global climate model simulations of the past, current, and future climate, the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) has become one of the foundational elements of climate science. This CMIP6 overview paper presents the background and rationale for the new structure of CMIP, provides a detailed description of the DECK (Diagnostic, Evaluation and Characterization of Klima) and CMIP6 historical simulations, and includes a brief introduction to the 21 CMIP6-Endorsed MIPs.

For more see: Eyring, V., Bony, S. and others (2016). Overview of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) experimental design and organization, Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 1937-1958.

21-25 November 2016 - Dakar, Senegal

This training school will include lectures by leading experts from the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Working Group on Seasonal to Interannual Prediction (WGSIP) on predictability over sub-seasonal to decadal timescales, with concrete examples from some of the world’s leading operational centers. Lab-based classes will introduce participants to the new S2S Project subseasonal and CHFP seasonal forecast databases. 

For more information see the School Webpage.

June, 2016

The climate community does not organize its research nor its modeling activities toward specific temperature targets. We evaluate atmospheric CO₂ concentrations that, when incorporated into models with various climate sensitivities, lead to probabilities of global average surface temperatures of a given range at future time periods as one outcome. 

The SPARC Annual Report 2015 is now available online.

Last day to get your applications in for the CLIVAR Executive Director position - deadline 30 May 2016!

For more information see the position outline and application details.

In this issue:

• Winners of Early Career Researcher Video Competition Announced
• Water for Food Baskets of the World Grand Challenge and Planning for New North American RHP
• Young Earth System Scientist's Activities
• Mapping the 2015 South Carolina Flood Using SMAP and GPM Measurements
• UNESCO-IHP: Addressing Societal Resilience to Climate Change Through International Scientific Cooperation

For more see GEWEX News.

The call for nominations to the CLIVAR Scientific Steering Group (SSG) and CLIVAR panels is now open. The deadline for nominations for appointments starting in 2017 (and 2018 for the SSG) is 20 July 2016. For more see the call on the CLIVAR website.

WCRP CORDEX information feeds directly into policy-driven research. Take, for example, the IMPACT2C web-atlas, which tells visual stories of the potential impacts of climate change with 2°C global warming for key sectors – energy, water, tourism, health, agriculture, ecosystems and forestry, as well as coastal and low-lying areas – at both the pan-European level and for some of the most vulnerable regions of the world to climate change. The conclusions of IMPACT2C have major implications for possible adaptation strategies on national and international scales. 

Find out more on the regional climate research for climate service: join the CORDEX Conference via web streaming.

Today marks the start of the International Conference on Regional Climate (ICRC)-CORDEX 2016. Around 350 scientists are gathering in Stockholm from 17 to 20 May to discuss the challenges of downscaling global climate models to generate regional climate data for decision-making. Find the full conference programme on the ICRC-CORDEX Website.

Join the conference by live webstream.

Check out the CORDEX YouTube Channel.

Find out more in the World Meteorological Organization press release: Researchers meet to improve regional climate prediction.

Registration is now open for audience members to participate in our APECS Online Conference 2016, “Polar Science: Through New Eyes", scheduled for 18 May 2016 (08:50 GMT to 21:20 GMT). It is completely free to attend! This conference will engage scientific dialogues between early career scientists from multiple disciplines and backgrounds on new research perspectives in their field of research.

CLIVAR Bulletin - News includes that Ms. Jing Li joins the International Clivar Project Office (ICPO) team in Qingdao, China, that CLIVAR seeks a new Executive Director for the ICPO and that there is a call out for US CLIVAR-sponsored workshops.

Find out what is happening at SPARC! This bulletin includes a call for SPARC cover photos, information on special issues of CMIP-6 and CCMI, links to a recent publication by the SPARC Stratospheric Sulfur and its Role in Climate (SSiRC) activity, and an opportunity for early career researchers to join the Young Earth System Scientists (YESS) SPARC group.

WCRP and the Global Energy and Water Cycle Exchanges (GEWEX) Project are pleased to announce the two winners of the Early Career Researcher (ECR) Video Competition: Theodore Letcher of the University at Albany and Joshua Roundy of the University of Kansas. Both submitted videos addressing the water challenges facing Western North America. Each will receive $500 and be invited to be a member of the Early Career Scientist advisory panel for the new GEWEX North American Regional Hydroclimate Project. Congratulations to the winners!

Winning video by Theodore Letcher

WCRP E-zine was published between 2006 and 2015.

E-zine No. 29, May 2015

E-zine No. 28, March 2015

E-zine No. 27, December 2013 Download (pdf, 213 KB)

E-zine No. 26, July 2013 Download (pdf, 221 KB)

E-zine No. 25, March 2013 Download (pdf, 315 KB)

E-zine No. 24, October 2012 Download (pdf, 115 KB)

E-zine No. 23, June 2012 Download (pdf, 102 KB)

E-zine No. 22, February 2012 Download (pdf, 94 KB)

E-zine No. 21, November 2011 Download (pdf, 102 KB)

E-zine No. 20, January 2011 Download (pdf, 100 KB)

E-zine No. 19, September 2010 Download (pdf, 180 KB)

E-zine No. 18, June 2010 Download (pdf, 104 KB)

E-zine No. 17, March 2010 Download (pdf, 106 KB)

E-zine No. 16, December 2009 Download (pdf, 125 KB)

E-zine No. 15, September 2009 Download (pdf, 110 KB)

E-zine No. 14, June 2009 Download (pdf, 124 KB)

E-zine No. 13, March 2009 Download (pdf, 108 KB)

E-zine No. 12, December 2008 Download (pdf, 109 KB)

E-zine No. 11, September 2008 Download (pdf, 107 KB)

E-zine No. 10, June 2008 Download (pdf, 104 KB)

E-zine No. 9, March 2008 Download (pdf, 100 KB)

E-zine No. 8, December 2007 Download (pdf, 100 KB)

E-zine No. 7, September 2007 Download (pdf, 100 KB)

E-zine No. 6, June 2007 Download (pdf, 100 KB)

E-zine No. 5, March 2007 Download (pdf, 104 KB)

E-zine No. 4, December 2006 Download (pdf, 141 KB)

E-zine No. 3, September 2006 Download (pdf, 100 KB)

E-zine No. 2, June 2006 Download (pdf, 60 KB)

E-zine No. 1, March 2006 Download (pdf, 49 KB)

Great animation by Ed Hawkins showing spiralling global temperatures

The animated spiral presents global temperature change in a visually appealing and straightforward way.

The pace of change is immediately obvious, especially over the past few decades. The relationship between current global temperatures and the internationally discussed target limits are also clear without much complex interpretation needed.

New data links thunderstorms to climate via their impacts on aerosols, ozone, and water vapor in the stratosphere.The Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry (DC3) field campaign was conducted over a broad area of the central US during May-June 2012. Analyses of DC3 data have shown that thunderstorms affect the composition of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere region by transporting air rich in water vapor, volatile organic compounds, and aerosols from near the Earth’s surface to the UTLS, by producing nitrogen oxides from lightning, and by causing mixing between the troposphere and stratosphere. 

Barth, M and Zhang, C (2016), Connecting thunderstorms and climate through ozone, Eos.

Photo Credit: NASA/Frank Batteas

See the UTLS Observation Workshop, jointly organised by the Global Atmosphere Watch Programme (GAW), Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) and Stratosphere-troposphere Processes And their Role in Climate (SPARC).

A study by King et al. examining extreme climate events has found that humans most likely triggered the last 16 record-breaking hot years on Earth, up to 2014. They determined that this influence on global climate goes back as far as 1937, an effect that has been masked until recent decades by the wide use of industrial aerosols, which have a cooling effect on temperatures. The researchers concluded that without human-induced climate change, recent hot summers and years would not have occurred.

Lipuma, L. (2016), Researchers attribute human influence on climate back to 1930s, Eos, 97.

The Call for Nominations for the 2016 World Data System (WDS) Data Stewardship Award is now open. This annual prize is directed towards early career researchers, and the 2016 winner will be presented with their Award alongside the 2015 awardee, Dr Yaxing Wei at SciDataCon 2016 (11–13 September 2016; Denver, Colorado).

The deadline for nominations is now extended to Monday, 30 May 2016. Details of the call can be found on the WDS website.

2–4 November 2016

Abstract Submissions deadline: 15 May 2016

Just a few more days to get your abstracts in to the Model Hierarchies Workshop, to be held at Princeton University, New Jersey, USA. The goal of the workshop is to bring together expertise to build more effective hierarchies of models. This is necessary to readily isolate the observed behaviour of a complex model in a simpler one, and to represent findings from idealized models in more comprehensive general circulation models. The workshop will be organized around the following themes:

• Tropical convection and radiative-convective equilibrium
• Mid-latitude dynamics and storm tracks
• Stratosphere-troposphere coupling
• Ocean dynamics
• ENSO and other coupled modes of variability
• Climate sensitivity and feedbacks
• Biospheres and the carbon cycle: from Gaia to full ecosystems

Provisional agenda

For more information see the Model Hierarchies Workshop website.

Over the next three days the Polar Prediction Workshop will take place at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York. It will focus on:

• Sources of polar predictability on sub-seasonal to inter-annual timescales
• Sea ice prediction
• Operational and research efforts

Join the event live from 9.00 in the US or 15.00 CEST!

LIVESTREAM

More information is available on the Polar Prediction Workshop website.

A 1-day colloquium to honour Prof. Dr. Johannes Staehelin

The 37th Session of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Joint Scientific Committee (JSC) took place from 25 to 27 April 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland. As part of this meeting the JSC approved two new 'Grand Challenges'. These focus on climate-carbon interactions and on climate prediction on time scales from years to decades, both very important to our understanding of how Earth’s climate will change in the coming years. WCRP intends to promote these projects through community-organized workshops, conferences and strategic planning meetings as well as to advocate further for international partnership and coordination. For more see the WMO Pree Release  'The WCRP approves new Grand Challenges' and the JSC-37 Meeting Overview.

While it is often hard to detect differences in overall skill between different forecast systems, there is now clear evidence that seasonal forecasts benefit from inclusion of the stratosphere. Recent work by Butler et al. (2016) uses historical forecasts from the WCRP Climate-system Historical Forecast Project (CHFP) to compare the seasonal prediction skill in boreal wintertime between models that did and did not resolve the stratosphere and its dynamics. Enhanced conditional wintertime skill over high latitudes and the North Atlantic region during winters with El Niño conditions suggests a possible role for a stratospheric pathway.