The  Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science will host the “Predicting the Climate of Coming Decades” workshop, scheduled for January 11 – 14, 2010.  The event is designed to bring together researchers involved in developing climate prediction systems and potential users to discuss the prospects for decadal climate prediction.

“The climate of the coming decades is going to be influenced by human-induced changes as well as ‘natural’ fluctuations,” said workshop co-chair Amy Clement, associate professor of meteorology and physical oceanography. “To date, these have been examined separately. However, in order to plan for, manage, and adapt to these changes, we need to make predictions that include both naturally occurring and human-induced climate changes.

“The timing of this workshop is important,” Clement added. “The scientific community is embarking on a great effort of making decadal climate predictions, but there is still the question of how useful these predictions will be to decision-makers. That answer will have to come from the people who could potentially take the next steps with this information by integrating the climate scenarios into planning for activities of interest, such as agriculture, water resource management, urban planning, and public health, to name a few.”

The workshop in Miami will consist of keynote lectures by speakers from around the world, including leading experts in the social and physical sciences, resource management, and other relevant disciplines. Sessions will focus on bridging the gap between what is feasible from technical and scientific viewpoints, as well as identifying which types of information can be made available to users.  Water resources, long-term risk management, marine ecosystems, extreme weather events, coastal processes, and public lands are among the topics to be discussed.

The registration fee is $60 per person. Limited travel support is available; applications are due October 15, 2009.  Poster titles and abstract files are being collected during the registration process; deadline for poster submissions is November 15, 2009.  The event is sponsored by UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, NOAA, World Climate Research Programme – CLIVAR, and the Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy at the University of Miami.

For more information, visit http://www.clivar.org/rsmas_decadal.php