Climate research seeks to understand how Earth’s atmosphere, water and land systems function as well as the processes by which they change over time. It draws on observations and theory from a broad range of scientific disciplines, including meteorology, oceanography, biology and physics.
Research is needed to provide insights into the impacts of human activity on the global environment and the complex relationships between humans, nature and the planet. It can help identify new risks to human health as the distribution of insect-borne diseases shifts, and guide adaptation strategies for communities in regions that are experiencing climate change’s effects on their natural resources. It can also provide the scientific basis for international policy-making to reduce carbon emissions and support sustainable development.
The work of climate scientists involves many challenges. The data that are used to track changes in the Earth’s atmosphere and other systems are often sparse, both in space and time, and have a number of weaknesses, such as the fact that they can be influenced by non-climatic factors (e.g., when an instrument is replaced or a building is built nearby). These observations are merged together, subjected to quality control procedures and homogenized (normalizing) in order to construct datasets such as global average surface temperatures. Homogenization helps to remove jumps in the records that are caused by events that are not part of the natural climate variations such as volcanic eruptions or the changing of seasons.
Scientists also use these data to create computer models of the Earth that can predict how climate might change in the future. These models are built using equations that describe everything from how wind blows, to how sea ice reflects sunlight and how forests take up carbon dioxide. The models are highly complicated and require powerful computers to run.