Category Archives: News

Upcoming Climate Coffees

We would like to inform you about our upcoming series of webinars, the Climate Coffees.

The European Climate Research Alliance (ECRA), and Blue-Action have started a collaboration to host the Climate Coffees, a series of regular informal discussion events around climate science. The speakers provide a short talk, followed by discussion, questions and comments.

Sign up for updates by sending a message to this address:  or by checking in on updates on the event website on http://ecra-climate.eu/ClimateCoffee.

See below for the upcoming events and topics:

Thursday, 16. September 2021: Rasmus Benestad, Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Norway

on the Norwegian approach to Downscaling (TBC) join on Zoom


Thursday, 30. September 2021: Ralf Ludwig, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich; Department of Geography (homepage)

Impact and attribution of extreme events using large, hydro-meteorological model ensembles join on Zoom


Thursday, 14. October 2021: Magdalena Mittermeier, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich; Department of Geography (homepage)

Studying Climate Change Effects on Extreme Weather Patterns using Neural Networks join on Zoom


Thursday, 28. October 2021: Len Shaffrey, National Centre for Atmospheric Science,Department of Meteorology,  University of Reading, Reading (homepage)

How will climate change affect North Atlantic storms? join on Zoom


emtpy slots – let us know if you want to contribute!

Thursday, 11. November 2021 
Thursday, 25. November 2021

Open Call for WCRP Academy Lighthouse Activity Co-Chair

Andrew Charlton-Perez has recently taken up an exciting new position at the University of Reading. As such, he has had to step down as Co-chair of the WCRP Academy Lighthouse Activity – although we are delighted that he will stay on for a year as part of the Academy team. We also thank Andrew for the tremendous job he has done since last October in advancing the Academy from a couple of pages of draft ideas to a well-structured and focused activity.
To identify a new co-chair for the Academy, we have opened a call for self-nominations for the role. The appointed co-chair will work with Angela Maharaj to take the activity forward. Please see the details of the role and how to apply on the WCRP website.

The deadline for self-nominations is 1 October 2021.
Please share this call with anyone who you think might be interested and/or let us know if you know of anyone who would have the experience and energy to take on this role.

AGU Fall Meeting 2021 Early Bird Registration is Open

Register now to join a diverse community of scientists, students, journalists, policymakers, organizations and educators in New Orleans and online everywhere for the world’s largest Earth and space sciences conference. The AGU Fall Meeting 2021 is all about giving you the tools to advance your work and career, providing a forum to grow your personal network and identifying what Science is Society (our theme) means to you.

We know that many of you want to help individuals who were affected by the destruction caused by Hurricane Ida in Louisiana and Mississippi. Please read our From the Prow post for details.

In addition, some of you have asked what happens now with #AGU21. We are in close contact with state and local officials as they continue to assess the situation. Based on current updates, we are confident that we will have our meeting in New Orleans, LA and online everywhere. 

Register here

Here is what to expect from #AGU21

Keynotes and Plenaries  Presidential Forum speaker Dr. Robert D. Bullard with more announcements to come

Scientific Program – Named Lectures; Union and Innovation Sessions; eLightning; Town Halls; Scientific Workshops

General Programming – Sketch Your Science; Skills for Science; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Science Policy 101; and many more popular topics

Poster Presentations  in-person and virtual sessions will include traditional poster presentations as well as dynamic online iPosters and PDF presentations.

Exhibit Hall  your opportunity to broaden your knowledge base, learn about new products and services, and embrace the joy of science with this year’s extensive list of exhibitors

Field Trips  participate in off-site adventures both in-person and virtually. Registration for field trips opens in October

Student & Early Career Events  resources for students and professionals at all levels in Earth and space sciences

Honors Ceremony and Banquet  celebrate those individuals who have made outstanding contributions to our community and to society

102nd AMS Annual Meeting – Abstract Deadline Extended

The 102nd American Meteorological Society (AMS) Annual Meeting will be held on 23–27 January 2022 in Houston, Texas.

The meeting will be in person with some virtual components. More information can be found on the AMS 2022 website. Information on registration rates are available here .

The abstract submission deadline is 8 September 2021.

A number of conferences of interest to the SPARC community have been organised for this meeting. The following is a non-exhaustive list:

21st Conference on Middle Atmosphere

35th Conference on Climate Variability and Change

24th Conference on Atmospheric Chemistry

10th Symposium on the Madden-Julian Oscillation and Sub-Seasonal Monsoon Variability

Workshop on Understanding and Modeling Complex Risks in Coupled Human-Environment Systems

8 – 10 February 2022, online

We are pleased to announce that the Risk KAN Working Group on Modeling and Insurance is organizing a virtual workshop on Understanding and Modeling Complex Risks in Coupled Human-Environment Systems in February 2022. We have several high level keynote speakers and welcome abstract submissions for the 3 main topics:

  • Systemic Risks
  • Advances in Modeling Socio-Economic Impacts
  • Resilience and Adaptation

For more information and for submitting an abstract, please visit:

Workshop on Understanding and Modeling Complex Risks in Coupled Human-Environment Systems – Knowledge Action Network on Emergent Risks and Extreme Events (risk-kan.org) 

We look forward to your contribution to the workshop! 

Kind regards,

Alessio Ciullo, Jana Sillmann, Jürgen Scheffran and Christian Franzke

Understanding mitigation in the climate security nexus webinar, Thursday 26 August

Could climate action hinder peace and security?

Climate security webinar | Thursday 26 August | 4-5pm CET

Don’t miss your last chance to register for the latest live discussion on climate security from the CGIAR. Our latest climate security webinar series – moderated by Mark Leon Goldberg of the Global Dispatch podcast – which runs throughout the lead-up to COP26, brings together leading thinkers to unpack the causes and links between climate, security and conflict.

On Thursday, we ask if climate action harms peacebuilding and security. In an underdeveloped area of analysis this webinar will explore how efforts to mitigate climate change impact and influence security.

We’re excited to welcome as our host Lini Wollenberg, Flagship Leader, Low-Emissions Development, CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and welcome back Mark Leon Goldberg as moderator.

Register now

Stream it live from 4pm CET this coming Thursday on YouTube or LinkedIn, and ask our speakers your questions directly by simply typing them into the comment box under the livestream.  

Stream on YouTube

Stream on LinkedIn

Explore CGIAR’s research on climate security

Job Opportunity: Head of climate group at physikalisch-Meteorologische Observatorium Davos und World Radiation Center

The „Physikalisch-Meteorologische Observatorium Davos und World Radiation Center“ (PMOD/WRC) is advertising for the position of head of the climate group, who will continue and develop research into the Earth’s system and upper atmosphere modeling. PMOD/WRC is a research institute and international calibration center focused on meteorological solar radiation and imaging measurements. In our function as the World Radiation Centre, we ensure the worldwide standardization of solar irradiation measurements and maintain several groups of reference instruments. A substantial part of our activity also relates to study of atmospheric aerosol, ozone layer, terrestrial climate, Sun’s activity and space weather. A team of about 50 employees conducts research and designs and builds instruments (both for ground and space) at PMOD/WRC, which is situated in the highest alpine city and has a research history going back more than 100 years (www.pmodwrc.ch).

Application deadline is 29 October 2021. Full description and more information can be found here.

2nd Climate Observation Conference is postponed

We regret to announce that the second Climate Observation Conference is postponed.

In the coming months, we will be working towards a new event format which allows experts from around the world to fully engage and interact, with the prospect of holding the Conference in 2022.

We sincerely thank those who have put time and effort into their registration and we apologise for this delay. We are contacting those who submitted an abstract: their contributions will be considered for the new conference.

The new date of the Climate Conference will be announced in due time on this website.

We encourage you to join us then and look forward to seeing you all there, stay tuned!!!

Submit your abstract to the AGU fall meeting until 4th August 2021

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) fall meeting 2021 will be held New Orleans, Louisiana and online everywhere. Abstract submission is open until 4th August 2021 — here

A number of SPARC-related sessions have been organised for this year’s fall AGU meeting
Abstract submission deadline: 4th August 2021

The following is a non-exhaustive list:

A031 Causes and Consequences of Polar Amplification

Lantao Sun, Colorado State University, Department of Atmospheric Science, Fort Collins, CO, US, James Screen, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom, Yutian Wu, Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY, United States and Qinghua Ding, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States.

A051 Extratropical and High-latitude Storm Tracks, Circulation Dynamics, and Extreme Events in the Context of Rapidly Changing Arctic and Antarctic Climate

Xiangdong Zhang, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, United States, Kent Moore, Univ Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada and James E Overland, NOAA Seattle, Seattle, WA, United States.

A052 Extratropical large-scale atmospheric circulation variability

Aditi Sheshadri, Stanford University, Department of Earth System Science, Stanford, CA, United States, Pedram Hassanzadeh, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States, Paul J Kushner, University of Toronto, Physics, Toronto, ON, Canada and Ding Ma, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States.

A059 General Session: Atmospheric Chemistry & Composition

Joost A de Gouw, University of Colorado, CIRES and Department of Chemistry, Boulder, CO, United States and Anne M Thompson, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States.

A067 Jetstream Dynamics, Atmospheric Rossby Waves and Associated Extreme Weather and Climate Events

Rachel H White, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, Kai Kornhuber, Columbia University, Earth Institute/Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, New York, United States, Haiyan Teng, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, United States and Pedram Hassanzadeh, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States.

A100: Subseasonal to Seasonal Climate Prediction, Processes, and Services

Andrew William Robertson, International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia University, Palisades, NY, United States, Arun Kumar, NOAA/NCEP, College Park, MD, United States, Kathleen Pegion, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, United States and Zhuo Wang, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, United States.

A103 The Dynamics of the Large-Scale Atmospheric Circulation in Past, Present, and Future Climate: Jet Streams, Storm Tracks, Stationary Waves, and Monsoons

Lei Wang, Purdue University, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, West Lafayette, IN, United States, Isla Simpson, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory, Boulder, CO, United States, Gang Chen, University of California Los Angeles, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Los Angeles, CA, United States and Simona Bordoni, University of Trento, Trento, Italy.

A110 Understanding Climate and Ozone Impacts From Anthropogenic and Natural Stratospheric Aerosol Emissions Through Observational and Modeling Studies

Christopher Maloney, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Chemical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO, United States; Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Boulder, CO, United States, Karen Hepler Rosenlof, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Chemical Sciences Division, Boulder, CO, United States, Pengfei Yu, Jinan University China, Institute for Environment and Climate Research, Guangzhou, China and Martin Ross, The Aerospace Corporation Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.

New assessment report by the SPARC S-RIP activity available as early-online release

In a comprehensive review, the SPARC S-RIP activity has conducted a coordinated intercomparison of reanalysis data sets with respect to key diagnostics. The results can be used to provide guidance on the appropriate use of reanalysis products in scientific studies of relevance to SPARC and beyond.

Find SPARC Report No. 10,

SPARC Reanalysis Intercomparison Project (S-RIP) Final Report

This report is an early online release of the final report of the SPARC S-RIP Activity. This version has been reviewed in a blind peer-review process, and type-setting has been done to produce this early version of the report. To finalise the report, editorial work needs to be completed, which will **not change the contents** of the report.

edited by SPARC S-RIP activity team: https://www.aparc-climate.org/activities/reanalysis-intercomparison/ and https://s-rip.ees.hokudai.ac.jp/