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Who We Are

US CLIVAR is a national research program with a mission to foster understanding and prediction of climate variability and change on intraseasonal-to-centennial timescales, through observations and modeling with emphasis on the role of the ocean and its interaction with other elements of the Earth system, and to serve the climate community and society through the coordination and facilitation of research on outstanding climate questions.

Our Research

The ocean plays a key role in providing a major long-term "memory" for the climate system, generating or enhancing variability on a range of climatic timescales. Understanding the ocean's role in climate variability is therefore crucial for quantifying and harnessing the predictability inherent to the Earth system. US CLIVAR-led research has played a substantial role in advancing understanding of, and skill in predicting climate variability and change.

Science and Research Challenges

Cracked earth

Subseasonal-to-   
Seasonal Prediction

Forest

Decadal Variability   
and Predictability

Flooding in neighborhood

Climate Change

Tornado and lightning

Climate and Extreme       
Events

Ice in polar landscape

Polar Climate Changes

Fish swimming undersea

Climate and Marine       
Carbon/Biogeochemistry

Coast with cliffs and waves

Climate at the Coasts

Announcements

See all announcements

Pathways Workshop Report

Pathways Connecting Climate Changes to the Deep Ocean Workshop Report is Published

The joint OCB/ US CLIVAR workshop explores methods for observing and modeling fast and slow pathways connecting the ocean surface to the deep seas.

Usable Climate Risk Science Webinar Sign Up

Usable Climate Risk Science Webinar Series

Hosted by the US CLIVAR Working Group on Accelerating Research on the Scientific Foundations of Regional Climate Risk Information, this webinar series explores the growing demand for actionable information on climate hazards and risks.

Adapted from Figures 6 and 11 of Chen et al. (2025). See full paper for more details and complete captions.

Small SST warm anomalies in Tropical Atlantic locally increase trade cumulus formation

Chen et al. (2025) employs large-eddy simulations to demonstrate how small-scale SST variations can increase trade cumulus cloud formation.

August Newsgram is Available

August Newsgram is Available

Stay informed with the latest news, research highlights, webinars, data sets, meetings, funding, career opportunities, and jobs for the climate science community.

Upcoming Webinars

Usable Climate Risk Science Webinar Series

Date:
Title: Usable Climate Risk Science: Webinar Two
Presenter(s):

Bob Kopp, Rutgers University

Dan Kirk-Davidoff, Electric Power Research Institute, Inc.

Join us for the second webinar in a new series, Usable Climate Risk Science, hosted by the US CLIVAR Working Group on Accelerating Research on the Scientific Foundations of Regional Climate Risk Information.

US CLIVAR Climate Variability and Predictability Program