As climate warms, the temperature in tropical and subtropical regions is expected to increase more at higher altitude than at the surface. This amplification of warming with altitude has a direct impact on weather and climate conditions in the mountains and on glacier mass balance, contributes to climate feedbacks and influences the large-scale circulation and thunderstorms. However, the amplification of global warming in the mountains is not observed everywhere, and there are uncertainties about the mechanisms controlling this amplification, particularly those linked to thunderstorms. The aim of this workshop was to better understand the mechanisms controlling this amplification, to better predict future variations and their consequences, and to assess the extent to which past variations in the thermal structure of the atmosphere can contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms and constrain future projections. To this end, the originality of this workshop was to bring together three communities that rarely interact: scientists studying thunderstorms, those studying paleoclimates, and those studying mountain weather and climate.
The workshop took place in Paris in the Jussieu campus, on July 6-7.