Workshop on Convection, Water Vapor, and Climate

March 27 - 29, 2012

Organizers: Zhiming Kuang, Kerry Emanuel

Sponsors: Harvard University Center for the Environment, Harvard Physical Oceanography Committee

Many issues in climate involve convection and water vapor, such as the general circulation (on Earth or elsewhere), the tropical climate (mean or transients), climate feedbacks, paleoclimate, and chemical transport, to name a few examples. At the same time, the basic physics and dynamics of convection and water vapor are also active research areas of their own. We hope that by bringing researchers from this broad spectrum of studies, the workshop can provide updates on our understanding of the basic physical processes so that they can be better integrated into the many climatic applications, and a survey of the broad range of outstanding climate issues involving convection and water vapor so that they can further motivate and focus studies of the basic physical processes.