Recently, the US CLIVAR Eastern Tropical Ocean Synthesis Working Group published an updated assessment on "Challenges and Prospects for Reducing Coupled Climate Model SST Biases in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic and Pacific Oceans" in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. This paper is the result of the Working Group collaboration and activities from 2012-2015. 

The 2016 Phenomena, Observations, and Synthesis (POS) Panel meeting focused on climate diagnostics, climate monitoring and analysis status and needs, understanding climate variations and linkages, and new autonomous technologies, among other topics. This report captures the presentations, discussions, recommendations, and action items the Panel agreed upon at the meeting.

The 2017 AMOC Science Team Meeting will take place in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from May 23-25, 2017. The meeting will discuss progress made and address emerging science questions related to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Registration closes March 17. 

US CLIVAR welcomes the following new members, who will help science planning and implementation of program goals: Tony Lee, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (SSC co-chair); Shane Elipot, University of Miami, and Aneesh Subramanian, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (POS Panel members); Victoria Coles, University of Maryland, William Collins, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab & UC-Berkeley, and Samson Hagos, Pacific Northwest National Lab (PSMI Panel members); and Mona Behl, University of Georgia, and Andy Wood, National Center for Atmospheric Research (PPAI Panel members). 

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events have far-reaching influence on the atmosphere and ocean that can dramatically impact marine ecosystems, including those along the West Coast of North America. The winter edition of Variations, joint with the US Ocean Carbon Biogeochemistry Program, features articles discussing the ability to predict these impacts. Join in for a webinar on February 15 at 12:00 p.m ET to hear the authors discuss their research. 

Scientists are actively addressing if and how changes in the Arctic are connected to extreme events across the mid-latitudes. In conjunction with a three-day workshop, US CLIVAR is partnering to host a public evening lecture and reception on this topic to take place February 2, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Click on "read more" to RSVP. 

Sonya Legg, Princeton University, has been selected as the new chair of the US CLIVAR Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) to serve through 2017. The SSC chair directs US CLIVAR activities by advancing the Science Plan, identifying new opportunities for engagement, and serving as an ambassador for the program. 

From better understanding of the overturning circulation to more insight on the impacts of a warming climate, this collection of research highlights from 2016 features new science conducted by members of the US CLIVAR community. Check out this "Year In Review" and visit the Research Highlights section to learn more. 

The 2017 AMOC Science Team Meeting will take place in Santa Fe, New Mexico from May 23-25, 2017. The meeting will serve to identify emerging research gaps and questions, provide updates on progress within the community, and discuss future opportunities and legacy activities as the Science Team plans to wrap-up in 2020. The meeting is open to all. Abstracts are due January 20.

Society needs credible and usable forecasts of extreme and hazardous events on the subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) timescale, particularly as a warming climate amplifies these events. This edition of Variations aims to initiate that conversation by addressing the state of the science for using models to represent and predict extreme and hazardous events on S2S timescales. Also, tune in for a webinar to hear from the contributors on December 8.