Conference on regional climate attracts scientists from over 70 countries

Next week, 14-18 October, almost 500 regional climate researchers, decision makers and users of regional climate information from more than 70 countries will gather for the 4th International Conference on Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (ICRC-CORDEX 2019) in Beijing, China. They will discuss regional climate research and share the latest progress on regional climate information for impact and adaptation planning.

The conference is organized by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), which hosts the International Project Office for CORDEX (IPOC), in cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Science and The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP).

"Global Climate Models can provide us with projections of how the climate of the earth may change in the future. The impacts, however, of a changing climate, and the adaptation strategies required to deal with them, will to a large degree occur on more regional and local scales," says Dr Iréne Lake, director for the International Project Office for CORDEX.

CNCC Conference Centre in Beijing, China
CNCC Conference Centre in Beijing, China

Regional climate downscaling has an important role to play by providing projections with much greater detail and more accurate representation of local extreme events. The results will also be prominent in the next assessment report currently in preparation by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

"Regional climate information can help us better understand how climate change affects different regions in various ways, and help end users like water managers in sub-Saharan Africa, city planners in Manila or forestry owners in Sweden to plan for the consequenses," says Iréne Lake.

One of the CORDEX goals is to build the capacity on regional climate science and its use in developing and transition regions.

A number of Flagship Pilot Studies, addressing local and regional challenges, will be presented during the sessions. Also, a new climate adaptation game on Minecraft and on the web, developed by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, will be demonstrated during the conference.

Read more about the conference on icrc-cordex2019.cordex.org/about/

Link to abstracts: icrc-cordex2019.cordex.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/10/AbstractBook_20191004.pdf