International workshop on air pollution, climate change, human health, and extreme weather

Abstract

Despite the substantial progress in addressing air quality problems, air pollution is still a serious concern in the developing and developed countries. There is now scientific consensus that atmospheric loading of greenhouse gases has been contributing to climate change. The 2014 IPCC report reiterated the need to address climate change on a global basis. It is also recognized that atmospheric composition can profoundly influence weather and climate directly by changing the atmospheric radiation budget or indirectly by affecting cloud formation and precipitation. Given the ever increasing computational power and ground and satellite-based observations, it is feasible to conduct observational and modeling investigations to improve our understanding of the role of aerosols on the monsoon dynamics and extreme events under changing climate. To address the above mentioned challenges, a three-day workshop was held during January 12–15, 2015 in Delhi, India bringing together scientists in air quality, weather, and climate fields from India, Europe, Japan, and North America to discuss the current state-of-science, identify research gaps, and prepare a research agenda to help improve our understanding of air quality and climate change interactions, and operationalize atmospheric modeling methods to better forecast the monsoon dynamics. Following the workshop, a small team of scientists from India, USA, Canada, and Europe met for a day to prepare an action plan for implementing recommendations of the workshop. It is envisioned that lead scientists identified from different countries will coordinate this research effort. This paper presents a summary of the recommendations made by the workshop participants and actions being taken at the national and international levels.