The US Climate Variability and Predictability Program (US CLIVAR) brought together the members of their Scientific Steering Committee and its three implementation Panels, agency managers, and invited speakers in Seattle, Washington on July 31 through August 2, 2023 for their biannual summit. The goal of the meeting was to review progress, identify opportunities, and develop strategies to advance US CLIVAR goals under the direction of the Science Plan. Participants spent three days sharing science updates and discussing topics like human impact on climate, climate information needs for indigenous peoples’, and global impacts of model biases in the Southern Ocean. CPO’s Ginny Selz and David Benson attended the meeting in Seattle, while Jose Algarin participated virtually. Current NOAA Climate & Global Change Fellow Channing Prend was invited to give a talk about his research on the effects of ocean currents and dynamics on biogeochemistry in a changing climate. Climate Adaptation Partnerships, formerly RISA, (CAP/RISA)-supported scientist Meade Krosby of the Pacific Northwest team also spoke on supporting coastal resilience in tribal communities, illustrating the value of collaboration between the Earth science and social science communities. Eight scientists and one postdoctoral researcher funded by the Climate Variability & Predictability (CVP) Program presented at the summit, as well as one scientist funded by the Climate Observations and Monitoring (COM) Program and seven funded by the Modeling, Analysis, Predictions and Projections (MAPP) Program.
The science discussions during the summit led to meaningful outcomes and future steps.
- Scientists called out the Southern Ocean as a key factor influencing the tropics and global climate, and should be a focus in research initiatives like the NOAA Precipitation Prediction Grand Challenge Strategy.
- Discussions covered the topic of extreme heat from a variety of perspectives, including meteorological drivers of heat like links to atmospheric rivers and methods of urban heat mapping using citizen science and machine learning. National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) collaborator and environmental health scientist Jeremy Hess presented on climate adaptation to urban and extreme heat. This interdisciplinary approach to heat further demonstrates the advantage of collaboration between fields on Earth science topics.
- Jan Newton, Executive Director of the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS), a regional section of NOAA’s Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), gave a talk on marine heatwaves in the Pacific Northwest. Her group is developing a new product for the IOOS website based on the refined definition of marine heatwaves developed by the Modeling, Analysis, Predictions and Projections (MAPP) Program’s Marine Ecosystem Task Force, an excellent case of successful research to application.
This multidisciplinary meeting was a great example of how Earth science topics can be better understood in collaborative spaces, and served to inform future research priorities for CPO programs.