Supporting regional and international cooperation in research on extremes in climate prediction and projection ensembles: Workshop summary

Abstract

Weather and climate extremes have enormous impacts on society, and are becoming more severe and frequent as the world warms. Most developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region are highly vulnerable to risks associated with heatwaves and cold spells, droughts and floods, tropical cyclones, wildfires, and other extremes. To support regional and international cooperation for research on weather and climate extremes in the Asia-Pacific region, the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) hosted an online workshop on Extremes in Climate Prediction Ensembles (ExCPEns) from 25 to 28 October 2021 with the support of Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN). The workshop aimed to advance the rapidly emerging science of exploiting subseasonal, seasonal, annual to decadal and long-term prediction ensembles to improve the prediction and understanding of weather and climate extreme events. An Early Career Scientist (ECS) event followed the ExCPEns workshop and consisted of a discussion and networking forum for ECS from APN member developing countries, along with a series of ECS training lectures and discussion sessions. Through the workshop and discussions among stakeholders, important scientific results on prediction and future changes in weather and climate extremes were communicated. Moreover, new research topics spanning these different time scales were identified and prioritized.