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John C. H. Chiang Associate
Professor |
547
McCone Hall tel: 510 642 3900 fax:
510 642 3370 |
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My research focuses
on the dynamics of the large-scale tropical atmosphere, ocean, and land
systems and its interactions with the global climate. An
early interest was on the large-scale convective climate of the tropical
Atlantic, which possesses a remarkable property of being exquisitely
sensitive to change; and in changing, become agents of climate change
elsewhere. It got me to thinking
about the larger role the tropics play in the global climate system, in
particular the way it responds to, and feeds back on, climate forcing. This line of questioning has led me
to consider ocean-atmosphere interactions in different ocean basins, and the
interactions between them; to interactions between the extratropics and
tropics, considering processes as far removed as the thermohaline
circulation, and building ice sheets.
Past climates motivate much of my research, as it offers valuable
clues on the linkages between various climate processes and just how
susceptible our climate is to change.
My ultimate goal is to understand how the global climate reorganizes
in the face of climate forcings, past and future; while that goal is still in the
far distance, all signs point to the tropical climate as key. I
use a variety of tools in my research, from statistical analysis of climate
data, to developing simple models, to using more complex models of the
atmosphere and ocean. My most effective research tool by far, however,
is the mug of coffee at the neighborhood café! |
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Courses [previous
semesters] Fall 2008
Geog 249 Spatiotemporal
Data Analysis in the Climate Sciences. Tuesdays 12-3p, 55A McCone Hall. Geog 257, Topics
in Climatology. This semester’s topic: Extratropcial
influences on the tropical circulation. Wednesdays
1-4p, 575 McCone Hall. |
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Group [past members]
[group photo] Yue Fang postdoctoral scholar Miren Vizcaino postdoctoral
scholar Hyo-Seok
Park graduate student |
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New stuff Chiang, J. C. H.: The Tropics in Paleoclimate. Submitted to Annual Review of Earth and Planetary
Sciences, July 2008. pdf Lambert, F. H., A. Stine, N. Y. Krakauer, and
J. C. H. Chiang: How much will precipitation increase with global
warming? EOS, Transactions of
the American Geophysical Union,
v69, number 21, 20 May 2008 pdf Chiang, J. C. H., Y. Fang, and P. Chang:
Pacific Climate Change and ENSO activity in the Mid-Holocene. In press for Journal of Climate, Aug 2008. pdf |
Last
updated 19 August 2008