Workshop on Monsoons and Inter-Tropical Convergence Zones: The Annual Cycle in the Holocene and the Future

The workshop entitled Monsoons and Inter-tropical Convergence Zones (ITCZ): the annual cycle in the Holocene and the future will be held at Columbia University, September 15-18, 2015. It will foster interactions between scientists versed in paleo climate observations and modeling, theorists of the general circulation of the atmosphere, experts in convection and the organization of rain-bearing disturbances, and climate modelers and climate scientists focusing on future projections. The workshop will provide a forum for a lively exchange of ideas between eminent leaders in the field, early career scientists, and participating students from both the host institution and nearby institutions, including those with high minority enrollment, such as the City University of New York. NSF support will go towards support for the participation by students and postdoctoral scholars, in particular from groups underrepresented in science and engineering.

The focus will be on modeling and theoretical understanding of the annual cycle of oceanic ITCZ and land monsoons in the present climate, the past, and the future. Coupled General Circulation Models fail to accurately reproduce the position and strength of the Tropical precipitation maxima both in the current climate and in the past. Talks will be posted on the symposium website after the event, and a summary article highlighting the conclusions of the workshop will be published.