Atmospheric and oceanic teleconnections govern the variability in our climate system on abroad range of time and spatial scales, in both the tropics and extratropics. On interannual time scales, the connection between the El Nino Southern Oscillation and the Asian Monsoon system influences rain amounts in regions particularly sensitive to floods/draughts. On interannual and decadal time scales, Sahel rainfall variability appears to be governed to a large extent by teleconnection patterns related to the Pacific region, Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Examples of tropical-extratropical links in the Pacific region include the Tropical-Northern Hemisphere (TNH) pattern, which is forced by ENSO related SSTs, and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and Pacific North American Pattern (PNA) which govern the subtropical and extratropical atmospheric and oceanic flow patterns on interannual to decadal timescales. The decadal behavior of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), influencing climate in Europe, Asia and northern Africa, is also likely to be connected to both tropical and extratropical sea surface temperatures in the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic regions. The climate trends observed in the 20th century, project as well, onto patterns like the NAO and the PDO.        

Insight into the physical mechanisms which result in these teleconnections, as well as a clear understanding of the difference in methodologies used to identity them are both of utmost importance in seasonal prediction research, as well as in research related to climate change issues.

The understanding of the mechanisms of the aforementioned teleconnections is of utmost importance in e.g. seasonal prediction research, as well as, in research related to climate change issues.

The proposed Conference will bring together scientists and graduate students of both modeling and observational aspects of atmospheric and oceanic climate variability on interannual to centennial time scales.