Abstract
Recent studies suggest the existence of a global atmospheric teleconnection of extratropical cooling to the tropical rainfall climate, mediated through the development of a thermal contrast between the hemispheres-an interhemispheric thermal gradient. This teleconnection has been largely motivated by studies that show a global synchronization of rapid climate change during abrupt climate changes of the last glacial period. In this talk, I will review the motivations and recent developments of this teleconnection hypothesis, in particular the atmospheric dynamics of the underlying mechanisms and applications of this hypothesis toward understanding past, present and future tropical rainfall change.