After many years of dedication and hard work for WCRP Valery Detemmerman took her retirement on 30th April 2014. She joined the WCRP Joint Planning Staff as TOGA science officer, she then provided support to WOCE, CLIVAR and GEWEX. Since November 2013 Valery has been acting director for WCRP.  WCRP Sponsors, JPS and the WCRP networks greatly appreciate Valery's contribution made over the years and join in wishing her all the best for this new phase of her life.

WCRP Sponsors are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. David Carlson as Director of the Joint Planning Staff. Dr. Carlson devoted the majority of his career in coordinating international science. He was the Director of the International Project Office for TOGA in the 90' and of the International Polar Year more recently. The JPS is looking forward to working with him starting from June 2014.... read more

WCRP has set a new milestone by establishing the International CLIVAR Global Project Office (ICGPO) at the First Institute of Oceanography (FIO) of the State Oceanographic Administration (SOA) in the city of Qingdao. This is the first time China hosts a WCRP international project office... read more

As part of a project QA4ECV (Quality Assurance for multi-decadal ECVs) and the UK National Physical Laboratory is conducting a survey concerning the state of and need for quality assurance in satellite-derived land data products. The survey is targeting the users of these products to gauge what products are being utilized, the quality indicators supplied with the products, how the quality information is used, and if needed quality information is not available, what the user would like to see provided. For more information click here

The model output of the joint research activity by the WCRP-WWRP/THORPEX MJO Task Force and the Year of Tropical Convection (YoTC) and the GEWEX Atmosphere System Study (GASS) is now available for models-based, physical-process studies of a wide range of weather and climate phenomena... read more

The Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS), Climate and the Cryosphere (CliC), and World Meteorological Organization Polar Space Task Group (WMO PSTG) is seeking inputs from the community for identifying the satellite data requirements for the Southern Ocean (across all temporal/spatial scales). This is a great opportunity to feed information directly into the strategic planning for future missions and research initiatives. Click here for the survey. Deadline 31 May 2014.

About 220 scientists attended the WCRP Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean (WCRP-LAC) in Montevideo, Uruguay, on 17-21 March 2014. The subtitle of the conference "Developing, Linking and Applying Climate Knowledge" was suggested to emphasize the main goal of this event that is to define the research agenda needed to contribute to the provision of effective climate services in the LAC region... read more

Former GEWEX chair, Kevin Trenberth and WCRP Director, Ghassem Asrar, recently published a review on current outstanding challenges and opportunities in global water cycle observations, research and modelling. The article set the stage for a successful implementation of WCRP Grand Challenge on water availability as a major source of information for decision makers on water resources, food security and disaster risk reduction... read the article

Until recently, long range forecast systems showed only modest levels of skill in predicting surface winter climate around the Atlantic basin. In a recent publication, Adam Scaife and co-authors demonstrated that key aspects of European and North American winter climate and the surface North Atlantic Oscillation are highly predictable months ahead... read the article

The First Institute of Oceanography (FIO) in Qingdao, China, is seeking a scientist for a staff position at the International CLIVAR Global Project Office (ICGPO) hosted at FIO. The successful candidate would join the Executive Director and a Senior Staff Scientist, both recruited from the existing international CLIVAR team, and an Administrative Assistant, to formulate the ICGPO. Application deadline 28 March 2014.

With the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) mostly completed, the WCRP Working Group on Coupled Modelling have prompted the preparations of the next phase. A brief overview of the initial proposed design of CMIP6 has recently been published in EOS with the aim to generate discussion and feedbacks ... read the article

The electronic version of the SPARC Report on Lifetimes of Stratospheric Ozone-Depleting Substances is now available here. This report was prepared by an international team of 55 scientists and reviewed by over 30 ... read the report

The current slowdown in warming is becoming a hot topic among scientists and decision makers. GEWEX and CLIVAR SSG co-chairs have recently added more thoughts in the current debate by publishing their commentaries in the latest issues of Nature Climate Change ("Heat hide and seek", one article by Lisa Goddard and another "No pause in the increase of hot temperature extremes" by Sonia Seneviratne et al.) and Nature Geoscience ("Bumpy path to a warmer world", by Martin Visbeck).

Approximately 300 scientists from around the world participated in the 5th SPARC General Assembly, which was held in Queenstown, New Zealand, on 12-17 January 2014. The program reflected the recently increased scope of SPARC activities and included six main themes. Most of the presentations and posters are available ... read more

Save the dates for the Third International Symposium on Effects of Climate Change on the World’s Oceans 23–27 March 2015, Santos, Brazil.

The strong linkage between ocean dynamics and societal needs is the rationale for a series of Climate Change meetings coordinated by ICES, PICES and IOC-UNESCO ... read more

Watch scientists involved in EU project NACLIM explaining the importance of understanding the mechanisms of climate variability in the North Atlantic.

The North Atlantic Climate: what we need to find out from NACLIM on Vimeo.

The WCRP call for expressions of interest for hosting an international project office for CORDEX has been extended to April 30th 2014. Following the success of the CORDEX initiative, WCRP is proposing to establish a dedicated office and staff to support its development. Interested institutions and organizations are invited to download the details of the call and the submission guidelines here

The International and US CLIVAR hosted a Town Hall at the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Both projects have new structures and redefined science foci and strategies for involving the wider community. The event was well attended by Early Career Scientists (ECS), that are key for the evolution of CLIVAR's scientific agenda in the next decade ... read more

Watch this educational video on the three main causes of uncertainty in global and regional climate change scenarios.

The uncertainties in climate change scenarios from Vegas-Deluxe on Vimeo.

At the initiative of MIT's Lorenz Center, a workshop on Water and Climate was held in Boston, USA, from 10-12 February 2014. The ideas and topics of the event were coordinated with the WCRP Grand Challenge on Clouds, Circulation and Climate Sensitivity.  To read the summary of the workshop, click here.

The 7th GEWEX International Scientific Conference will celebrate 25 years of research in global water and energy cycle and set the stage for the next phase of research addressing water resources, extreme and climate sensitivity. The deadline for abstracts submission has been extended to 28 February 2014.

Future Earth is now issuing a call for a set of Fast Track Initiatives (FTIs) and Cluster Activities to kick-start integration among the GEC projects. For more information on the call for proposal click here. Applicants have to submit a completed application form no later than April 4th 2014.

The WMO Commission on Climatology is organizing a Technical Conference on Climate Services that will take place in Heidelberg, Germany, on 30 June - 2 July. The agenda includes a joint session with WCRP on new research and operational challenges aiming at strengthening the collaboration between the two groups ... download the brochure 

The WCRP Joint Planning Staff is seeking a Senior Scientific Officer to take duty in Geneva, at the WMO headquarters. For more details on the vacancy please click here. The deadline for application submission is 10 March 2014.

The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) has released a call for expressions of interest from institutions to host an international project office for the CORDEX Initiative (CIPO). The need has arisen due to the success of the first phase of CORDEX resulting in the requirement for a dedicated staff and office to support and develop the initiative as it enters its second phase. Click here to download the application documents. Deadline for submission: 31st March 2014