The US CLIVAR Working Group on the Changing Width of the Tropical Belt was formed in April 2016. The intent of the working group is to further the understanding of new insights that call into question the prevailing view about the nature and causes of changes in the width of the tropics.
Main objectives of the working group
- Provide guidance on which metrics are most appropriate to quantify key impacts of the changing width of the tropical belt.
- Identify how anthropogenic forcing and natural atmosphere-ocean variability contribute uniquely to decadal timescale changes in the width of the tropical belt.
- Address how the global-scale widening of the tropics is manifested through regional-scale impacts.
- Coordinate efforts with other international programs (e.g., SPARC DynVar; WCRP Grand Challenge on Clouds, Circulation, and Climate Sensitivity; GEWEX Hydroclimatology Panel) and inform funding agencies of where research initiatives are needed to advance understanding.
| Kevin Grise, co-chair | University of Virginia |
| Paul Staten, co-chair | Indiana University |
| Ori Adam | ETZ Zurich |
| Robert Allen | U. California-Riverside |
| Thomas Birner | Colorado State U. |
| Gang Chen | U. California-Los Angeles |
| Kerry Cook | U. Texas-Austin |
| Sean Davis | NOAA Earth System Research Lab./U. Colorado |
| Qiang Fu | U. Washington |
| Kristopher Karnauskas | U. Colorado |
| James Kossin | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information |
| Chris Lucas | Bureau of Meteorology, Austrailia |
| Amanda Maycock | U. Leeds |
| Timothy Merlis | McGill U. |
| Xiao-Wei Quan | NOAA Earth Systems Research Lab./U. Colorado |
| Karen Rosenlof | NOAA Earth Systems Research Lab. |
| Isla Simpson | National Center for Atmospheric Research |
| Caroline Ummenhofer | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |
| Darryn Waugh | Johns Hopkins U. |
