Abstract

The Earth’s climate has changed considerably in the past. Periodic and episodic natural changes caused by natural climate forcing such as orbital variations and volcanic eruptions, and the feedback processes intrinsic to the climate system, have induced substantial changes in the climate system on a range of timescales. These natural and anthropogenic forcing are generally projected on to the internal dynamics of the climate system or climate variability. The least studied such variability are the decadal and multi-decadal variability mainly due to the non-availability of long term reliable climate data. A brief review of these variability such as Atlantic Multi-decadal Variability/Oscillation (AMV/AMO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Inter-decadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), Indian Ocean Basin-wide Mode (IOBM) etc. and their possible impact on the Indian region will be presented. The recent advancement in the climate modelling provides some confidence for using them for climate variability studies. The current status of climate models in the predictability of the near term climate will be discussed. Decadal prediction is an emerging field in the area of climate science. Considering its potential applications, efforts are made to develop an India specific decadal prediction system, which will also be briefed