In this interview made before the opening of the 35th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment (ISRSE, Beijing, China, April 2013) Dr. Ghassem R. Asrar, expresses his satisfaction at the wonderful job the global community has done in building the Earth Observing System (EOS) and turning observations into useful information for decision makers around the world. Read the full interview.

The Changes in temperature and precipitation extremes over the Greater Horn of Africa region from 1961 to 2010 paper published in the International Journal of Climatology shows that there has been a significant decrease in total precipitation on wet days and increasing warm extremes. This study was promoted by WCRP, WMO and GCOS and was supported by the World Bank Global facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery.

Compiled by 384 scientists from 52 countries, the State of the Climate in 2012 report provides a detailed update on global climate indicators and other data collected by environmental monitor stations and instruments. According to the report, 2012 was among the 10 warmest years on record worldwide.

The WCRP Joint Scientific Committee and the WCRP Modelling Advisory Committee held their 34th and 2nd Sessions, respectively, in Brasilia, Brazil, in May 2013. The final reports of these meetings are now available on the WCRP Publications 2013 webpage.

WCRP community congratulates Dr. James Hurrell for being selected to become the next NCAR director. Jim has served as CLIVAR co-chair for several years and has been involved in several WCRP activities including the successful Open Science Conference that took place in Denver in October 2011.

The Science and Technology Alliance for Global Sustainability is launching an open competitive process for the selection of a permanent secretariat for Future Earth. Parties are invited to submit their expression of interest which is the first stage of a three-step process.

WCRP together with EUMETSAT are planning a symposium to discuss the current state of climate science and climate observations with particular emphasis on the role of space-based Earth observations. The symposium will take place in Darmstadt, Germany, on 13-17 October 2014. Some preliminary information and the first announcement can be found of the Climate Symposium 2014 website.

The Working Group on Seasonal to Interannual Prediction (WGSIP) in collaboration with the Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Armosfera (CIMA) invites the research community to explore the Climate Historical Forecast Project (CHFP) database for their studies on the seasonal predictability of the global climate. The CHFP database consists of data from retrospective predictions of the seasonal climate from year to year across recent decades. For access the database see the entry page on the CIMA website.

According to a new report by WMO, The Global Climate 2001-2010: a decade of climate extremes, the 2001-2010 decade was the warmest since the start of modern measurements in 1850. The record warmth was accompanied by unprecedented high-impact climate extremes like heat waves in Europe and Russia, floods in Pakistan, droughts in the Amazon Basin, Australia and east Africa, a rapid decline in the Arctic sea ice and accelerated loss of net mass from the world's glaciers.

As one of the main modulators of heating in the atmosphere, clouds control many aspects of the climate system. Limited understanding of clouds is the major source of uncertainty in climate sensitivity. Over the next 5-10 years WCRP will focus in overcome the main barriers that prevent progress in assessing Climate Sensitivity and future precipitation changes. See the WCRP Grand Challenge on Clouds, Circulation and Climate Sensitivity web pages.

The recently established first Science Committee of Future Earth includes 18 members from the diversity of disciplines and expertises needed to address the global environmental change in all its dimensions. The Science Committee is supported by an interim secretariat whose director,  recently appointed, is Professor Frans Berkhout. Read more on the Future Earth website.

The Korean Meteorological Administration is to host a new International Coordination Office for a project which aims to improve predictions at sub-seasonal to seasonal timescales. This project brings together the weather and climate research communities to solve the unique scientific challenges related to this forecasting time range. Read more in the full news article.

The Working Group on Numerical Experimentation (WGNE), jointly sponsored by the Joint Scientific Committee of the World Climate Research Programme and the Commission of Atmospheric Sciences of the World Climate Research Programme, organized a workshop on Systematic Errors in Weather and Climate Models, hosted at the Met Office, Exeter, UK, during 15-19 April 2013. More than 270 people from around the world attended the meeting. Read more in the full news article.

An interesting debate is currently taking place on whether the 2012 US Central Great Plains drought is linked to climate change or it is a result of natural climate variability. The debate sparked after the publication of a NOAA assessment report on the origin of such drought and involves several WCRP affiliated scientists. See the article in the New Scientist.

Dr. Ghassem Asrar, Director of WCRP, has been interviewed by the International Innovation magazine on the strategic approach to developing science-based information on climate variability and change for decision makers. The Global Framework for Climate Services developed by WMO will ensure an integrated and holistic approach to climate information and knowledge delivery. Read the article.

In a recent article published in Environmental Chemistry, SOLAS (Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere Study) reviews the critical issues in the exchange of energy, gases and particles at the ocean-atmosphere interface. WCRP is a parent programme of SOLAS together with IGBP and SCOR. Read the CSIRO article - Evolving research directions in Surface Ocean–Lower Atmosphere (SOLAS) science

The WCRP collaborating with the Africa Climate Policy Center (ACPC) will host the first ever Pan-Africa Climate Research Conference on 15-18 October 2013, in Arusha, Tanzania. All interested researchers and praticioners working on the African climate are invited to submit an abstract... for detailed information go to the conference website.

The CLIVAR-GEWEX Africa Climate Panel has launched a database that aims to strengthen the network of climate scientists in Africa and to serve as an effective way of communicating relevant news and opportunities. It will be used to distribute the WCRP Africa Newsletter, announcements of the Africa Climate Conference and other meetings and training opportunities.