Director’s Research Group

We aim to advance our fundamental understanding of the dynamical processes governing Earth’s large-scale climate patterns and their responses to various external forcings, including greenhouse gases, aerosols, ozone depletion and recovery, Antarctic ice-sheet meltwater, among others. Many of these influences, originating from extratropical regions, have a significant impact on the spatial pattern of tropical climate. Thus, our particular focus lies in establishing connections between the tropics and the extratropics. To gain a dynamical understanding of the extratropics-to-tropics teleconnection, we need a holistic perspective on the global climate system, as it entails delving into the intricate interactions among different components of the Earth system, including clouds, atmospheric circulation, and ocean dynamics. Our research group tackles this complex challenge by utilising a range of tools from conceptual models to Earth System Models and even storm-resolving coupled models. We adopt different tools to distinguish the mechanisms responsible for the rapid adjustments during the initial period and the slower quasi-equilibrated state responses.

In recent years, our research has been centered on unraveling the intricate mechanisms that govern the tropical climate patterns. We grapple with specific questions, such as the perplexing challenge faced by climate models in accurately simulating historical trends in sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific. Observations indicate a significant cooling trend in the eastern tropical Pacific over the past three decades, a trend that starkly contrasts with the warming trend simulated by the majority of climate models. We critically reflect on this observation-model discrepancy and strive to comprehend the relative contributions of various forcing components in determining the observed trend and to discern why models fail to replicate it. This involves investigating whether the models are deficient in representing essential forced responses or if there are crucial processes that are missing in models.