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Changing Width of the Tropical Belt Working Group

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

  1. Provide guidance on which metrics are most appropriate to quantify key impacts of the changing width of the tropical belt.
  2. Identify how anthropogenic forcing and natural atmosphere-ocean variability contribute uniquely to decadal timescale changes in the width of the tropical belt.
  3. Address how the global-scale widening of the tropics is manifested through regional-scale impacts.
  4. 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. 

 

Tropical Belt Working Group
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.