A variety of recent studies have shown that extratropical heating anomalies can be remarkably effective at causing meridional shifts in the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). But what latitudinal location of forcing is most effective at shifting the ITCZ? In a series of aquaplanet simulations with the GFDL Atmospheric Model, version 2 (AM2), coupled to a slab mixed layer ocean, it is shown that high-latitude forcing actually causes a larger shift in the ITCZ than when equivalent surface forcing is applied in the tropics. Equivalent simulations are run with an idealized general circulation model (GCM) without cloud and water vapor feedbacks, also coupled to an aquaplanet slab ocean, where the ITCZ response instead becomes weaker the farther the forcing is from the equator, indicating that radiative feedbacks must be important in AM2.In the absence of radiative feedbacks, the tendency for anomalies to decrease in importance the farther away they are from the equator is due to the quasi-diffusive nature of energy transports. Cloud shortwave responses in AM2 act to strengthen the ITCZ response to extratropical forcing, amplifying the response as it propagates toward the equator. These results emphasize the great importance of the extratropics in determining the position of the ITCZ.

This paper introduces the Tropical Rain belts with an Annual cycle and a Continent Model Intercomparison Project (TRACMIP). TRACMIP studies the dynamics of tropical rain belts and their response to past and future radiative forcings through simulations with 13 comprehensive and one simplified atmosphere models coupled to a slab ocean and driven by seasonally varying insolation. Five idealized experiments, two with an aquaplanet setup and three with a setup with an idealized tropical continent, fill the space between prescribed‐SST aquaplanet simulations and realistic simulations provided by CMIP5/6. The simulations reproduce key features of present‐day climate and expected future climate change, including an annual‐mean intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) that is located north of the equator and Hadley cells and eddy‐driven jets that are similar to present‐day climate. Quadrupling CO2 leads to a northward ITCZ shift and preferential warming in Northern high latitudes. The simulations show interesting CO2‐induced changes in the seasonal excursion of the ITCZ and indicate a possible state dependence of climate sensitivity. The inclusion of an idealized continent modulates both the control climate and the response to increased CO2; for example, it reduces the northward ITCZ shift associated with warming and, in some models, climate sensitivity. In response to eccentricity‐driven seasonal insolation changes, seasonal changes in oceanic rainfall are best characterized as a meridional dipole, while seasonal continental rainfall changes tend to be symmetric about the equator. This survey illustrates TRACMIP's potential to engender a deeper understanding of global and regional climate and to address questions on past and future climate change.

Obesity and metabolic disorders have become a worldwide pandemic affecting millions of people. Although obesity is a multifaceted disease, there is growing evidence supporting the obesogen hypothesis, which proposes that exposure to a subset of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), known as obesogens, promotes obesity. While these effects can be observed in vitro using cell models, in vivo and human epidemiological studies have strengthened this hypothesis. Evidence from animal models showed that the effects of obesogen exposure can be inherited transgenerationally through at least the F4 generation. Transgenerational effects of EDC exposure predispose future generations to undesirable phenotypic traits and diseases, including obesity and related metabolic disorders. The exact mechanisms through which phenotypic traits are passed from an exposed organism to their offspring, without altering the primary DNA sequence, remain largely unknown. Recent research has provided strong evidence suggesting that a variety of epigenetic mechanisms may underlie transgenerational inheritance. These include differential DNA methylation, histone methylation, histone retention, the expression and/or deposition of non-coding RNAs and large-scale alterations in chromatin structure and organization. This review highlights the most recent advances in the field of epigenetics with respect to the transgenerational effects of environmental obesogens. We highlight throughout the paper the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence for proposed mechanisms underlying transgenerational inheritance and why none of these is sufficient to fully explain the phenomenon. We propose that changes in higher order chromatin organization and structure may be a plausible explanation for how some disease predispositions are heritable through multiple generations, including those that were not exposed. A solid understanding of these possible mechanisms is essential to fully understanding how environmental exposures can lead to inherited susceptibility to diseases such as obesity.

In the present‐day climate, the mean Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is north of the equator. We investigate changes in the ITCZ latitude under global warming, using multiple atmospheric models coupled to an aquaplanet slab ocean. The reference climate, with a warmer north from prescribed ocean heating, is perturbed by doubling CO2. Most models exhibit a northward ITCZ shift, but the shift cannot be accounted for by the response of energy flux equator where the atmospheric energy transport (FA) vanishes. The energetics of the simulated circulation shifts are subtle: changes in the efficiency with which the Hadley circulation transports energy, the total gross moist stability (Δm), dominate over mass flux changes in determining δFA. Even when δFA ≈ 0, the ITCZ can shift significantly due to changes in Δm, which have often been neglected previously. The dependence of ITCZ responses on δΔm calls for improved understanding of the physics determining the tropical Δm.

The energetic framework predicts no shift of the zonal mean Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in response to zonally asymmetric forcings (zonal warming and cooling regions with zero zonal mean) assuming radiative feedbacks are linear. Here we show the ITCZ shifts southward in response to a zonally asymmetric forcing in the Northern Hemisphere subtropics in a slab ocean aquaplanet model. The southward shift is consistent with decreased zonal mean energy input to the atmosphere due to cloud radiative effect changes in the cooling region. When cloud‐radiative feedbacks are disabled the ITCZ shifts northward consistent with changes in the warming region where increased energy input via surface heat fluxes and stationary Rossby‐wave transport dominate. Competition between cooling and warming regions leads to changes in gross moist stability. Our results show rectification of zonally asymmetric forcings play an important role in zonal mean ITCZ dynamics and highlight the importance of assessing the momentum budget when interpreting ITCZ shifts.