CLIVAR (climate variability and predictability) is a component of the

World Climate Research Programme The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) is an international programme that helps to coordinate global climate research. The WCRP was established in 1980, under the joint sponsorship of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Int ...

. Its purpose is to describe and understand climate variability and predictability on seasonal to centennial time-scales, identify the physical processes responsible for

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

and develop modeling and predictive capabilities for climate modelling. Dr Antonietta Capotondi was elected as PICES WG-49 co-chair representing CLIVAR in 2023.

History

The following is an approximate timeline of CLIVAR and its precedents: * 1985: The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) initiated the TOGA (Tropical-Ocean Global Atmosphere) (1985-1995), to study interannual variability driven by the ocean-atmosphere system in the tropics. * 1990: The WCRP began the first observational phase of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (1990-1997) * 1991: Joint Scientific Committee (JSC) called on a group of experts to come together and consider the possible future directions for climate research, building on the foundation laid by TOGA and WOCE. * 1992: The deliberations of the Joint Scientific Committee were published in 1992 in a brochure entitled ‘CLIVAR – a study of Climate Variability and Predictability’. * 1993: The WCRP JSC decided to undertake CLIVAR as a major activity. * 1995: CLIVAR was officially launched, initially as a 15-year project. The launch coincided with the end of TOGA. * 1997: The first CLIVAR implementation plan was published.

Panels and working groups

CLIVAR has a number of panels and working groups based on the study of climate variability and predictability of different components of the global climate system.

Global panels

CLIVAR has three global panels: * Global Synthesis and Observation Panel (GSOP) * Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) * Working Group on Ocean Model Development (WGOMD)

Regional panels

Regional panels focus on specific aspects of the climate system. Since the different regions of the ocean are qualitatively different, and given the important role of the oceans in controlling climate over the interannual, decadal, and centennial scales considered by CLIVAR, the subdivision into panels is largely based on regions of the ocean system. Specifically, the following is the list of regional panels: * Asian-Australian Monsoon Panel (AAMP) * Atlantic Implementation Panel (AIP) * CLIVAR/GEWEX Africa Climate Panel (ACP) * CLIVAR/CliC/SCAR Southern Ocean Panel (SOP) * CLIVAR/IOC-GOOS Indian Ocean Panel (IOP) * Pacific Panel (PP) * Variations of the American Monsoon Systems (VAMOS)

National programmes

There are four national CLIVAR programmes, that run largely autonomously but contribute to the international CLIVAR program: * US CLIVAR: This contributes directly to the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) by coordinating and advancing research within the US to improve the documentation, understanding, modeling and prediction of variations in global and regional climate. It is supported by participating programs in five

United States Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

agencies:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding ...

(NASA), the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditi ...

(NOAA), the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

(NSF), the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...

(DOE), and the

Office of Naval Research The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is an organization within the United States Department of the Navy responsible for the science and technology programs of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Established by Congress in 1946, its mission is to pla ...

(ONR). * CLIVAR-España in

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* Canadian CLIVAR Research Network * UK CLIVAR

References

External links

Climatological research {{climate-stub