On October 24, the Asian venue of the 7th SPARC (Stratosphere-Troposphere Processes and Their Role in Climate) Global Conference opened in Qingdao, China. This conference features three venues—Asia, Europe, and North America. The Asian venue is hosted by the First Institute of Oceanography under the Ministry of Natural Resources, while the European and North American venues are respectively hosted by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the United States. The three venues operate through a hybrid online-and-offline format, bringing together more than 400 experts and scholars from around the world.

　　It is reported that SPARC is one of the six core projects under the World Climate Research Programme. Its aim is to coordinate cutting-edge international research activities on the stratosphere and troposphere, as well as their impacts on the global climate system, thereby advancing our understanding of multi-sphere interactions that influence the climate system—including ocean dynamics, climate system dynamics and their predictability, and long-term climate records. Given the critical role of oceans in the climate system, it is essential to clarify how oceans affect both the stratosphere and the troposphere. As a core project in the field of Earth system change, SPARC’s research findings are regularly submitted to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and serve as an important scientific basis for the IPCC’s successive assessment reports, exerting significant influence on global climate change projections and response strategies.

　　The SPARC Conference is one of the most influential gatherings in the global climate change community, held every four years. The inaugural SPARC Global Conference was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1996. The convening of this conference profoundly impacted the global scientific community’s understanding of climate system changes and climate research, laying the foundation for future research in the field of climate science.

　　The 2022 SPARC Global Conference will foster interdisciplinary and cross-regional collaboration on the global climate system by building a network of scientist partnerships, while also providing more opportunities for young scientists. The five-day conference will focus on six key themes: “How Dynamical Processes Shape Climate Change and Trends,” “SPARC’s Past and Future,” “Coupling Among Climate, Radiation, and Dynamics,” “New Insights into Atmospheric Composition and Variability,” “Observations and Reanalyses—New Approaches to Studying the Atmosphere,” and “From Subseasonal to Decadal Climate Prediction.” The conference will feature keynote presentations, poster sessions, and a Young Scientists Forum, among other activities.