Latest WCRP News No. 9 (28 February 2008)

The WCRP News No. 9 can be accessed through this link: http://wcrp.wmo.int/documents/WCRP_09EzineMar08.pdf

New Director of the WCRP Joint Planning Staff appointed (21 February 2008)

Welcome to the new Director of the WCRP Joint Planning Staff, Dr Ghassem R. Asrar [More...]

Call for nominations: 2008 A.G. Huntsman Award (24 January 2008)

Call for nominations: 2008 A.G. Huntsman Award. The award for 2008 will be in the fields of Physical and Chemical Oceanography, which should be interpreted broadly to encompass patterns and processes at all scales ranging from micro- to global scales and from the nearshore to the deep ocean. Further information on the website: http://www.bio.gc.ca/huntsman/nomcall-e.html

World Modelling Summit for Climate Prediction will happen in Reading, UK (24 January 2008)

World Modelling Summit for Climate Prediction will happen in Reading, UK, on 6-9 May 2008. Further information on the meeting's website: http://wcrp.ipsl.jussieu.fr/Workshops/ModellingSummit/index.html

Indian satellite (Oceansat-2) has Announcement of Opportunity for data utilisation (15 January 2008)

The Indian Space Research Organisation will launch later in 2008 an ocean observing satellite known as Oceansat-2 with an onboard scatterometer and ocean color monitor. An Announcement of Opportunity is available at the organisation's official website (http://www.isro.gov.in) and invites proposals for utilising the data. Further details are avilable in the website.

BBC series on global warming is looking for field research expeditions (11 January 2008)

The BBC are making a major new 3 part TV series on the history of global warming and we are looking for scientific field research expeditions related to climate change that are taking place any time from February to May this year that we could follow and film. If you are doing any field research yourself during this time period, or know of any one who is, who might be interested, please contact Davina Bristow (davina.bristow@bbc.co.uk)

Draft declaration of the Cape Town Ministerial Summit (30 November 2007)

The Draft Cape Town Declaration as adopted on the 30th of November 2007 during the Cape Town GEO Ministerial Summit.

John Church wins Eureka Prize (22 August 2007)

The Chair of the Joint Scientific Committee for WCRP, John Church, won the University of New South Wales Eureka Prize for Scientific Research . The Eureka Prize is awarded to Australian researchers for outstanding curiosity-driven scientific research.

Special edition of Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society A (11 June 2007)

"Ensembles and probabilities: a new era in the prediction of climate change" is a special edition of Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society A of interest for many in the CLIVAR community. This issue is available at a special price of £47.50 (US$90) for the CLIVAR community. This specially discounted price is only available by contacting Debbie Vaughan at the Royal Society direct (debbie.vaughan@royalsoc.ac.uk).

3rd WCRP International Conference on Reanalysis (09 May 2007)

The 3rd WCRP International Conference on Reanalysis is planned to take place in Tokyo, Japan from 28th January to 1st February 2008 following an initiative by WCRP, Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) and the University of Tokyo.

Call for papers is available from JRA-25 official web page: http://jra.kishou.go.jp/3rac_en.html

WCRP Joint Scientific Committee Meets to Review Progress and Future Directions (16 April 2007)

The JSC meeting in Zanzibar, Tanzania, 26-30 March 2007, had the aim to determine future directions of WCRP development and to review progress in implementing the WCRP Strategic Framework 2005-2015. An 'Africa Day' had been arranged to invite local scientists to discussions on regional research needs. Particular attention was paid to African climate research as presented by over 30 African participants. [More...]

Call for articles for Exchanges 42 (29 March 2007)

We would like to invite the CLIVAR community to submit papers to CLIVAR Exchanges for a special issue on Ocean Model Development and Validation. The guest editor will be Professor Peter Killworth. This edition will celebrate Peter's distinguished career and his major contributions to ocean modelling.

The deadline for submissions is Friday 18th May 2007 and papers should not exceed three pages including figures (see http://www.clivar.org/publications/exchanges/guidel.php for guidelines).

Contact the assistant editor Anna Pirani (Anna.Pirani@noc.soton.ac.uk) or the International CLIVAR Project Office (icpo@noc.soton.ac.uk) for any further information.

The International Polar Year is officially launched in Paris (02 March 2007)

The Official Opening Ceremony to launch International Polar Year 2007-2008 took place at the Palais de la Découverte, a famous science museum in central Paris, France. The co-sponsors of IPY, the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) hosted the event. Several countries also had official events to mark the beginning of IPY. For more information, please check the IPY website (http://www.ipy.org).

The IPCC WG1 Summary for Policymakers has been published (09 February 2007)

On 02 February 2007, the Working Group 1 (WG1) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment has published its Summary for Policymakers. The WG1 contribution describes progress in understanding of the human and natural drivers of climate change1, observed climate change, climate processes and attribution, and estimates of projected future climate change.

Call For Abstracts to IUGG XXIV Session on Monsoon System (03 January 2007)

A Joint Session JMS011 (J11) on the Monsoon System, co-sponsored by IAMAS, IAPSO, IAHS and THORPEX, will be held at the XXIV IUGG Conference in Perugia, Italy. The session conveners, Guoxiong Wu, Bin Wang, Harry Hendon and Peter Webster are calling for abstracts to be submitted by 31 January 2007 through http://www.iugg2007perugia.it/. This session will provide a science forum for WCRP and THORPEX and some relevant research programs and allows scientists to interact more effectively.

The WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin for 2005 has been published (24 November 2006)

The Environment Division of WMO’s Atmospheric Research and Environment Programme has recently published the second of a series of WMO-GAW Annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletins. Each year, these bulletins will report the latest trends and atmospheric burdens of the most influential, long-lived greenhouse gases; carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), as well as a summary of the contributions of the lesser gases. It can be accessed from this link.

The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change has been published (30 October 2006)

The most comprehensive review ever carried out on the economics of climate change was published today.

The Review, which reports to the UK Prime Minister and Chancellor, was commissioned by the Chancellor in July last year. It has been carried out by Sir Nicholas Stern, Head of the Government Economic Service and former World Bank Chief Economist.

“The conclusion of the Review is essentially optimistic. There is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, if we act now and act internationally. Governments, businesses and individuals all need to work together to respond to the challenge. Strong, deliberate policy choices by governments are essential to motivate change. But the task is urgent. Delaying action, even by a decade or two, will take us into dangerous territory. We must not let this window of opportunity close.” (Sir Nicholas Stern)

For more details and to download the report, please visit www.sternreview.org.uk

Dutch Climate Variability Programme holds a symposium (06 October 2006)

The Dutch Climate Variability committee and Dutch Global Change Committee are organising the Dutch Climate Variability Symposium, which will be held on 10 October 2006, at the KNAW, Amsterdam. Prof. Jochem Marotzke (Max Plank Institute for Meteorlogy), Prof. Nalân Koç (Norwegian Polar Institute) and Dr. Tim Palmer (ECMWF) are keynote speakers at the one-day symposium. [More...]

Chinese Basic Research Program launched in Beijing (05 October 2006)

On 11th September 2006, the National Basic Research Program (973 Program)"Ocean-Atmosphere Interaction over the Joining Area of Asia and India-Pacific Ocean (AIPO) and Its Impact on the Short-Term Climate Variation in China" was launched in Beijing. [More...]

ICSU seeks nomination of young scientists (27 September 2006)

ICSU is organizing a conference for young scientists that will allow them to discuss and address some of today’s important scientific challenges in a multidisciplinary and international environment. ICSU is now inviting all Members and Interdisciplinary Bodies to nominate and sponsor an outstanding young scientist to attend the conference, which will take place in Lindau in Germany from 4 to 6 April 2007. [More...]

WCRP has a new website (05 September 2006)

WCRP has a new logo and a new website, with a new look and an easy-to-remember web address (http://wcrp.wmo.int). It provides the latest news and links to global climate research. Feedback and comments are welcome (wcrp@wmo.int).

WCRP's e-zine no. 3 (05 September 2006)

WCRP's news on climate research in e-zine No. 3 is available. Please feel free to send the newsletter to colleagues who might be interested in it.

To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send an email to wcrp@wmo.int. Contributions to e-zine N° 4 and feedback should also be adressed to wcrp@wmo.int.

US JGOFS Final Data Report available (20 July 2006)

The final 2 volumes (DVD-ROM volumes 3 and 4, SMP results) of the US JGOFS Final Data Report are available for distribution.  To receive your copy, please use the data report request form at:

http://usjgofs.whoi.edu/publications/RequestDataRpt.html

For more information please look at:

Volume 3 : Synthesis and Modeling Project Results, part 2, published on DVD-ROM, November 2005
Volume 4 : Synthesis and Modeling Project Results, part 3, published on DVD-ROM, December 2005

Several meetings added to the CLIVAR calendar (04 July 2006)

The CLIVAR calendar has been updated with the addition of several meetings and workshops. The latest CLIVAR panel meetings and workshops added to the calendar are:

31 Aug - 02 Sep 2006: CLIVAR/GODAE Meeting on Ocean Synthesis Evaluation (ECMWF, Reading, UK)

18 - 20 Oct 2006: Tropical Atlantic Variability Workshop (Paris, France)

14 - 16 Nov 2006: CCl/CLIVAR/JCOMM ETCCDI meeting (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada)

08 - 09 Dec 2006: GSOP meeting (La Jolla, USA)

21 - 22 Mar 2007: Atlantic Implementation Panel Meeting (Kiel, Germany)

WCRP's e-zine no. 2 (05 June 2006)

WCRP's news on climate research in e-zine No. 2 is available. Please feel free to send the newsletter to colleagues who might be interested in it.

To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send an email to wcrp@wmo.int. Contributions to e-zine N° 3 to be published in September, and feedback should also be adressed to wcrp@wmo.int.

Global Warming in a Chaotic Climate - A Simple Conceptual Model (10 May 2006)

Our climate is chaotic. As a result, the internal variations of climate are irregular and weather patterns never repeat themselves exactly. Two animations [by Tim Palmer and Rob Hine (ECMWF)] showing the familiar "Executive Decision Maker" - a metal pendulum swinging over four magnets - help to illustrate a number of climate issues which have caused conceptual difficulties from time to time.

ESSP Open Science Conference: deadline extended (03 May 2006)

Call for contributions (http://www.essp.org/ESSP2006/CallPapers_index.html) and requests for financial support (http://www.essp.org/ESSP2006/FinancialSupport_index.html) deadline for the ESSP conference in Beijing has been extended to 12 May 2006.

The second circular can be found on the ESSP OSC website and registration is now open and can be done online (http://www.essp.org/ESSP2006/Registration_index.html).

New book on Mediterranean Climate Variability (02 May 2006)

A new book, Mediterranean Climate Variability, edited by P. Lionello, Paola Malanotte-Rizzoli and Roberta Boscolo, has just been published by Elsevier. The book provides an updated description of climate variability in the Mediterranean basin, focusing on its strong inter-annual to decadal features. It describes both local physical processes responsible for these variability - such as changes in the surface properties and land use - and global processes - such as changes in the large scale atmospheric circulation associated to global warming, NAO, tropical monsoon and ENSO. Regional climate change issues are also addressed.

ESSP Open Science Conference: call for contributions (05 April 2006)

The ESSP Open Science Conference, to be held in Beijing, China, on 9-12 November 2006 invites scientists, policy makers, practitioners, scholars, members of the private sector and journalists to submit online abstracts (poster or parallel session presentations) through the OSC website (www.essp.org/ESSP2006/CallPapers_index.html). Deadline is 01 May 2006.

APCC invites proposals to conduct an international research project (30 March 2006)

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Climate Center (APCC) located in Busan, Republic of Korea, invites proposals to conduct an international research project on the development of a validated multi-model ensemble seasonal and sub-seasonal prediction system. The project budget is approximately US$150Kand the proposal due-date is 30 April 2006. The project announcement can be found on the APCC website

WGSIP calls for contributions to final phase of SMIP (29 March 2006)

WGSIP is inviting for participation in the final phase of SMIP data collection and in the analysis of the SMIP datasets via diagnostic subprojects. For more information, please read the final call.

It's crunching time: ICPO joins climateprediction.net

We are putting our computers to work even harder here at the ICPO. We created a team called (guess what?) CLIVAR and all the staff joined it to help climateprediciton.net in the experiment to try and produce a forecast of the climate in the 21st century.

If you already takes part in the experiment, follow this link to join the team. If you do not have an account, you can create one and join the team by follow this link.

You can follow the progress (credits and rank position) of the team from the picture below. C'mon, join in!