2021
34th INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL CONGRESS - Istanbul, Turkey,
16-20 August 2021
The 2021 IGU Congress due to COVID-19 pandemic was held on-line hosted by Turkish Geographical
Society and Istanbul University, Turkey. The conference was held under the theme Geography:
Bridging the continents.
In this conference, the following four CoC sessions were organized in 4 days.
16th & 17th August: Climate variability and change - from global to local scales, Chairpersons: Zahide
Acar & Babatunde Abiodun
17th & 18th August: Hydroclimatic extreme events: risks, vulnerabilities and management,
Chairpersons: Zahide Acar & Jun Matsumoto
18th August: Mediterranean climate, Chairperson: Hadas Saaroni
19th August: Urban climate, Chairperson: Jun Matsumoto
CoC on-line Business Meeting, 19 August 2021
The CoC business meeting was held on 19 August 2021, from 1:45 pm
to 2:45 pm UTC. The meeting was set via Zoom web meeting system due to the influence of COVID-
19 instead of face to face meeting which had been planned during IGC 2021 in Istanbul.
Meeting participants - CoC SC members: Jun Matsumoto, Hadas Saaroni Guillaume Fortin, Agnieszka
Wypych, Babatunde Abiodun, Yoshihiro Iijima (CoC SC Secretary).
2020
XIV INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL UNION (IGU) - INDIA International Conference - Burdwan, West
Bengal, 6-8 March 2020
The Conference was held under the auspices of five IGU Commissions: Commission on Biogeography
and Biodiversity, Commission on Land Use and Land Cover Change, Commission on Hazard and Risk,
Commission on Climatology, and Commission on Geo-Heritage. The focal theme of the conference
was "Agriculture, Food, Water, Biodiversity and Health in Changing Climate". This mega conference
was organized by the Department of Geography, The University of Burdwan, West Bengal, India in
collaboration with Association of Bengal Geographers.
CoC on-line Business Meeting, 19 August 2020
The CoC business meeting was held on 19 August 2020, from 11.00 pm to 12.00 pm UTC. The
meeting was set via Zoom web meeting system due to the influence of COVID-19 instead of face to
face meeting which had been planned during IGC 2020 in Istanbul.
Meeting participants - CoC SC members: Jun Matsumoto, Hadas Saaroni Guillaume Fortin, Jennifer
Salmond, Francisco Mendoca, Zahide Acar, Agnieszka Wypych, Yoshihiro Iijima (CoC SC Secretary),
observers: Barbaros Gonencgil (IGU Vice President, Head of LOC 2021 IGC Istanbul) R.B. Singh (IGU
Secretary General and Treasurer).
2019
The main stream of activities in 2019 was, on the point, focused on scientific information exchange
and 34th International Geographical Congress preparation. The cooperating members shared the
results of leading-edge research via Internet.
Prof. Arieh Bitan passed away on 19th of February 2019 in Jerusalem. He was between the founders
of the Commission on Climatology and served at the board for many years. R.I.P.
2018
IGU Regional Conference - Quebec City, 6-10 August 2018
The 2018 IGU Regional Conference was held at in the Quebec City Convention Centre, Quebec,
Canada, co-organized by the International Geographical Union (IGU), the National Council for
Geographic Education (NCGE), and the Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG). The conference
was held under the theme Appreciating Difference which is a Quebec expression that invites
participants to consider the world as a blank canvas that we must first decide how to depict before
putting down images and words.
In this conference, the following four CoC organized sessions and one open session were organized in
1.5 days. The number of participants was 2004 on 7 August, and 10, 20 on 8 August.
7 August:
C3-SP2. Natural Hazards and Climate (Conveners: Hadas Saaroni, Agnieszka Wypych, Zahide Acar
Deniz, Yoshihiro IIjima) 8 Papers
C3-SP1. Climate Change: Recent Trends in the Americas (Conveners: Guillaume Fortin, Francisco
Mendonca, Roger S. Pulwarty) 5 Papers
C3-SP6. Weather and Climate Extremes: Increasing (In)security in a Changing World (Conveners:
Roger S. Pulwarty, Hadas Saaroni, Guillaume Fortin) 2 Papers
8 August:
C3-SP7. Natural Hazards, Extreme Weather and their Impacts: Memorial Session of Late Prof.
Masatoshi Yoshino (Jun Matsumoto, Jennifer Salmond): 5 Papers
C3-SP100. Climatology OPEN SESSION: 2 Papers
CoC Business Meeting In addition to the organized scientific sessions
The CoC business meeting was held on 8 August 2018, from 3.15 pm to 4.50 pm in the conference
venue. Meeting participants are: CoC SC members: Hadas Saaroni, Roger Pulwarty, Guillaume Fortin,
Fransisco Mendonça, Agnieszka Wypych, Babatunde Joseph Abiodun, Jun Matsumoto, and Julie
Winkler as an observer. This was the first business meeting with renewed SC members from 2017.
2017
The main stream of activities in 2017 was, on the point, focused on scientific information exchange.
Internet has become the principal medium, due to which the cooperating members were able to
share the results of leading-edge research.
2016
IGU Congress - Bejing, 21-25 August 2016
IGU Bejing Congress was held at China National Convention Center, China from August 21 to 25,
2016.
Three commission sessions were organized:
- Climatic change and variability in different scales
- Urban climates and bioclimatic aspects
- Weather and climate extremes
XII SBGC / Brazilian Symposium on Geographical Climatology
Climate variability and susceptibility: ecosystem and social implications
The event was organized from 25 to 29 October 2016 at Goiânia, Brazil and counted on about 350
participants. 250 scientific contributions were presented in oral and poster form.
Topics:
1.Theory and method in climatology
2. Climate risks, vulnerability and susceptibilities
3. Urban climatology: studies and management of cities
4. Regional climatology and agroclimatology
5. Climates of the Brazilian savana
6. Emerging themes and approaches in climatology
2015
IGU Regional Conference - Moscow, 7-21 August, 2015
In 2015 IGU Regional Conference was held in Moscow, 7-21 August, 2015. There was one large
Climatological Session entitled "Climate Variability and Predictability" organized by Commission on
Climatology.
CoC Steering Committee member Elena Voskresenskaya was the leader of that session. During that
session there were given 46 oral presentations and 29 poster presentations. Participants represented
different countries with the predominance of Russian Federation as well as China.
2014
IGU Regional Conference - Kraków, 18-22 August 2014
The CoC organized 9 Sessions with 16 timeslots covering the topics:
- Climate change and variability in different spatial and temporal scales
- Weather and climate extremes
- Historical climatology
- Polar and mountain climates
- Urban climates
- Atmospheric circulation in different scales
- GIS and remote sensing in atmospheric sciences
- Climate modeling and scenarios
- Climate change impacts and vulnerability
Due to the limited number of presentation sessions GIS and remote sensing in atmospheric sciences
and climate modeling and scenarios were finally merged into one session.
During the sessions 72 presentations were given by scientists from different countries, representing
Europe, Asia, North and South America, Australia and Oceania. Also 62 posters were presented. The
total number of sessions participants is difficult to estimate.
Steering Committee meeting - Kraków, Poland, 19.08.2012
During the IGU Congress Steering Committee meeting took place. It was attended by 5 full members
as well as 5 observers. The general themes of the meeting were:
(1) the Commission current organizational details (membership, etc.)
(2) activities planned for 2014-2015: a) mid-year activities, b) conferences, c) publications
2013
IGU Regional Conference - Kyoto, 4-9 August 2013
In IGU Kyoto Regional Conference, held at Kyoto International Conference Center, Japan from August
4 to 9, 2013.
Three commission sessions were organized with twelve slots:
- Climatic change and variability in different spatial and temporal scales (13 presentations)
- Urban climate (12 presentations)
- Past, present and future changes of Asian and Australian monsoon and their impact on nature and
society (11 presentations)
In addition, two joint sessions with the Commission on Hazard and Risk, and the Commission on
Water Sustainability were organized:
- Water resources and climate change (Joint session with the Commission on Water Sustainability)
- Climate-related risk and hazard in the 21st century (Joint session with the Commission on Hazard
and Risk)
Furthermore, two general sessions were under the auspices of CoC: Climatology (7 presentations)
and Water resources (4 presentations).
In addition, 11 posters were presented in 113 Climatology, one poster in 114 Meteorology and in 115
Hydrology, respectively.
Unfortunately except for Jun Matsumoto from Tokyo Metropolitan University, JAMSTEC/RIGC, Japan
no other commission members attended from abroad. It should also be noted that Prof. Masatoshi
Yoshino, the founder of our commission and the former vice president of IGU, and Prof. Takehiko
Mikami, the former commission member from Japan, gave their presentations in CoC sessions.
2012
IGU Congress, Cologne, Germany, 26 - 30 August 2012
The CoC organized 5 Sessions (28-29 August) with 15 timeslots covering the topics:
- Climate change and variability in different spatial and temporal scales
- Weather and Climate Extremes
- Applied Climatology in 21 Century
- Potential Impacts of Climate Variability and Change on Agriculture
- Urban climates
During the sessions 55 presentations were given by scientists from 21 countries, representing
Europe, Asia, North and South America, Australia and Oceania. The total number of sessions
participants is difficult to estimate.
There was also a joint session CoC-IGU MRP: Climate change in the areas with Mediterranean
climate: characteristics, mitigation and adaptation organized/announced but due to the small
number of participants interested as well as some personal problems it was finally cancelled.
Steering Committee meeting - Cologne, Germany, 29.08.2012
During the IGU Congress Steering Committee meeting took place. It was attended by 5 full members
as well as 5 observers. The general themes of the meeting were:
(1) the Commission current organizational details (membership, etc.)
(2) activities planned for 2013-2014:
a) mid-year activities, b) conferences, c) publications
2011
IGU Regional Conference - Santiago, Chile, 14-18 November 2011
Climatology sections organized during Regional Conference in Santiago covered the topics:
- Urban Climatology
- Urban Climatology and climate change
- Agroclimatology and Climatology Methods
- Regional Climate
- Climate change
- Climate change, urban areas and health
About 25 presentation were given altogether by participant from mainly Latin American countries
(Brazil, Chile, Mexico) but also from Spain, China, Russia and India.
The climatological sessions were organized by Prof. Dr. Francisco Mendonça, Departamento de
Geografía, Universidad Federal de Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil (a member of Commision on Climatology)
and Prof. Dr. Hugo Romero, Dapartamento de Geografía, Universidad de Chile (Local Organizer).
The sessions unfortunately had very few participants. About seventy per cent of the approved works
have been presented. As Prof. Francisco Mendonça was the only committee member who was
present none official CoC meeting was arranged in Santiago.
2010
IGU Regional Conference - Tel Aviv (14-15 July 2010)
During the International Geographical Union Regional Conference in Tel Aviv, Israel (12-16 July 2010)
Commission on Climatology organized climatology sessions within two Conference days. The sessions
covered the general themes of essential current issues:
Global warming and its impacts - different assessments
Urban climate and environmental impacts
Urban climate and thermal comfort
Mediterranean climate
Remote sensing and advanced techniques in climate research
Regional climatology
38 presentations were given in 9 sessions:
Global warming and its impacts - different assessments
Urban Climate and environmental impacts
Urban climate and thermal comfort
Mediterranean climate - Joint Session with the Mediterranean Renaissance Project
" Remote sensing and advanced techniques in climate research
" Mediterranean and regional climatology
which were attended by about 100 participants.
Steering Committee meeting - Tel Aviv 15 July 2010
During the IGU Regional Conference Steering Committee meeting took place. The general theme of
the meeting were the Commission activities planned for 2011 (e.g. IGU Regional Conference in Chile).
2008
Participation in the Tunis International Geographical Congress.
The CoC organized its Sessions in coordination with the Congress Scientific Committee:
TC 04 4: Climatology.
The CoC co-organized Special sessions on "Climate change from the geological eras to the 21rst
century: characteristics, impacts and governance". Twelve IGU Commissions, an International
Scientific Association and a Working Group of a National Committee collaborate to organize 14
sessions in relation with the theme Climate" of the IYPE:
Environment Evolution and Human Activity in Holocene: Geographical Pattern" (Prof. A. Velichko),
The two last Millenia",
Climate in the 21st century" (Prof. A. Douguédroit),
;Population Vulnerability and Climate change (Prof. A. Findlay and Dr A. Geddes),
Coastal Systems and Climate change" (Prof. D. Sherman),
Geomorphic Challenges and Climate change for the 21st Century" (Prof. A. Parsons),
Health and the Environment and Climate change(Prof. M. Rosenberg),
Urbanization and climate change" (Prof. N. Tapper) coordinated with the IAUC (International
Association on Urban Climate, Dr M. Roth ) and the CCRG (Climate Change Research Group) of the
Association of British Geographers (Prof. M. Pelling and Dr S. Lindley),
Indigenous peoples and Climate change" (Prof. J. Johnson),
Climate Change and Tourism, Leisure in the 21th century" (Prof. J. Saarinen),
Soils and climate change - problems for human existence in the 21th century" (Prof. M.Degórski)
Land degradation and desertification and climate change" (Prof. G. Gísladóttir)
Climate change, drought and aridity: Science and adaptation" (Prof. P. Robinson, R. Pulwarty)
Climate Change and Vegetation Dynamics in the 21st Century" (Prof.Dr. Udo Schickhoff).
The CoC co-organized 3 Special sessions on Climate change from the geological eras to the 21rst
century in the Mediterranean: characteristics, impacts and governance" in collaboration with the
Commission on Aridlands (Prof. M. Ashour) and the Programme MedCLIVAR within the MRP:
"Climate Change in the Mediterranean", "Perspectives on the Mediterranean Environment:
promoting interaction between MedCLIVAR and geographers" and "Climate Change impacts in the
Mediterranean".
Business Meeting in Tunis The BM was about the future of the Commission and the climatology in
the IGU.
2004 - 2007
All the members except one have attended one or more of the CoC meetings or sessions.
Business Meetings
In Aix en Provence, France, 1-2 September 2005 (Organisation: Annick Douguédroit, Report: Alain
Viau) attended by four full members, the other full members being connected to the meeting by
internet.
The situation of the Commission on Climatology (CoC) has been reviewed. One main decision
concerned the visibility of the CoC: it had to be improved. A communication strategy was elaborated
first to create relationship between the commission members, second to extend commission
relationship to the climatologists working in geography and third to all the other geographers. It has
been successful. Visibility tools have been defined: the Bulletin (review and update: electronic
version, new name - Newsletter -, new extended mailing list), the Web site (extended it and better
use it to promote our activities). It has been successful in the running of the commission (see below).
From the scientific point of view it was decided to evaluate the possibility to co-sponsor activities and
define working groups. Co-sponsoring has been applied to Meetings of the IAUC (International
Association of Urban Climate) and of the AIC (Association Internationale de Climatologie)
In Brisbane during the IGU Regional Conference, 5 July 2006, (Organisation: Nigel Tapper) attended
by the three full members present in Australia and two other climatologists.
It was planned to publish proceedings of the sessions of the CoC on a CD-ROM, in charge of Mikami
Takehiko. The CD-ROM has been sent to the authors in 2007.
In Krakow, Poland, 7 July 2007 (Organisation: Zbigniew Ustrnul, report: Nigel Tapper), attended only
by four full members, the other full members being connected to the meeting by internet.
The main topic of the meeting concerned the future of the Commission. As a result of discussions
amongst members present and in consideration of the emails received from non-attending members
of the CoC it was resolved for a range of reasons (political and scientific among them) that the CoC
should continue. The possibility to have a number of sub-themes (each with a Vice-Chair) underneath
was suggested There was also some discussion of the future direction of the CoC, the replacement of
members who will step down in 2008 (It was deemed important that any new members should all be
active members of the CoC - there was no room for inactive members) and the climatology sessions
for the 2008 IGU Meeting in Tunis (options other than a CD-ROM of Proceedings were discussed) and
the final year of the Current CoC (report, Tunis, Update and improvement of the CoC Website). The
intention of continuing as commission clearly expressed during the last Business meeting in July 2007
shows that the mixture between remaining and new members has been successful.
In Brisbane during the IGU Regional Conference, 3-7 July 2006,
6 climate sessions organized by the CoC were very well attended with an audience of up to 50
people. Altogether close to 60 climate-related papers were offered.