Weather and Climate Dynamics Division
Atmosphere–ocean interactions research
Oceans play a key role in regulating the earth's climate. This is partly because of inertia; oceans take longer to heat and cool than land. But scientists at CIRES are also interested in studying how sea surface temperature changes affect weather phenomena and longer-term climate variability. In one area of research, CIRES scientists look at how variations in the temperature anomaly and location of El Niño events impact precipitation in different parts of the world.
