climatescience

Climatescience is the interdisciplinary study of the Earth's climate system, including the atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, land surface, and biosphere, and the processes and feedbacks that connect them. It investigates how climates have varied in the past, how they are changing now, and how they are expected to evolve under natural variability and human influences. The field draws on physics, chemistry, geography, statistics, and computer science to understand energy flows, matter transport, and biological interactions that shape climate.

Researchers rely on observations from weather stations, ocean buoys, weather balloons, and satellites, as well as proxies from ice cores, sediments, and tree rings to reconstruct past climates. They use computer models—ranging from simple energy-balance models to sophisticated coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation models and earth-system models—to simulate climate behavior. They perform attribution studies to distinguish natural variability from anthropogenic forcings such as greenhouse gas emissions and land-use changes, and they quantify uncertainties.

Key topics include global and regional temperature trends, changes in precipitation and the hydrological cycle, sea-level rise, cryosphere loss, and the heightened frequency and intensity of heatwaves and extreme events. Projections depend on emission scenarios, model skill, and feedbacks within the climate system, and remain uncertain at regional scales.

Climate science informs policy by assessing risks, evaluating mitigation and adaptation strategies, and projecting potential futures. It is advanced through international collaborations and assessments, notably the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports and large model intercomparison projects. Subfields include atmospheric science, oceanography, paleoclimatology, climate dynamics, and climate impacts and economics.