Introduction

The first conference on Global Change and the Environment in Asia and Pacific (GCEAP) will be held 25-26 September 2008 on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT Hong Kong.  The meeting takes place immediately after the GEWEX Radiation Panel Working Group on Data Management and Analysis (WGDMA).  The purpose of the conference is to bring together and provide a forum for discussions and networking among scientists and stakeholders on issues related to global change and the impact on the environment and feedback processes in the Pacific Rim and Asia.  While the impact of increase greenhouse gases on the global climate is relatively well understood, effect of aerosol due to pollution on the local and regional climate is relatively unexplored. 

Within the Pacific Rim and Asia, rapid economic development in some areas has resulted in land use land cover changes and pollutions that may affect the local energy and water cycles which may feed back to the global climate. The two day conference will include invited talks and contributed oral and poster presentations.