CLIVAR is a program of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) on Climate Variability and Predictability on time scales ranging from seasonal-to-interannual to centennial. Consequently it addresses directly variability associated with El Niņo and climate change arising from anthropogenic effects (global warming). Over the past three years, following the publication of the CLIVAR Science Plan, through workshops, working group and Panel meetings, the CLIVAR Scientific Steering Group has put together an Initial Implementation Plan.
CLIVAR focuses on the role of the coupled ocean and atmosphere within the overall climate system, with emphasis on variability, especially within the oceans, on seasonal to centennial timescales. CLIVAR intends to explore predictability and how to improve predictions of climate variability and climate change using existing, reanalyzed, and new global observations, enhanced coupled ocean-atmosphere-land-ice models, and paleoclimate records. CLIVAR will promote the development of skillful regional and global predictive models and will enable a more accurate detection of anthropogenic modification of natural climate. CLIVAR will strongly support the design and implementation of global ocean and atmosphere observing systems for long-term climate research and will specifically address the variability of regional coupled ocean-atmosphere systems such as monsoons in relation to global patterns such as ENSO. Accordingly, the plan describes CLIVAR's requirements for global observations, dataset development, empirical studies, model development and numerical experimentation, and process studies. The challenge has been to find the critical areas in which coordination and international infrastructure can make the research endeavors more effective and focused. The broad scope of the programme is focused on eleven principal research areas.
A key step will be the CLIVAR Science Conference in Paris at UNESCO 1-3 December 1998. This will seek expressions of interest and commitments from nations, and national priorities and prospects for international collaboration and coordination will guide the CLIVAR Scientific Steering Group on where emphases should be placed. Results will be reported at the AMS meeting.