Climate Science
Mission
Supporting science and engineering to diagnose, adapt to, and mitigate against climate change.
Overview
Through this initiative, we aim to advance our understanding of how the climate will change and how we can mitigate and adapt. We aim to reduce the uncertainty around the next century of climate change to inform sound policy decisions through development of new methods and improved models to help populations assess, prepare for, and respond to climate change risks.
Diagnosis
Quantifying the forcing of climate change (e.g. emissions of methane from agriculture and natural gas production, land use change in tropical regions, emissions of carbon dioxide from the growing megacities) is essential for informing efforts to reduce the rate of global warming. New methods, models, and improved use of data are needed to improve these forecasts.
Mitigation
Given the current trajectory of Earth's climate, there is a pressing need to develop methods to reduce climate forcing by reducing emissions of methane, removal and burial of carbon dioxide, and possibly by engineering increases in the reflectivity of Earth.
Adaptation
Given increasing temperature, flooding, drought, and sea level, there a pressing need to develop technologies and approaches for adaptation (creating resiliency in built and natural systems).
- Climate Science Initiative Lead; R. Stanton Avery Prof. of Atmospheric Chemistry and Environmental Science and Engineering; Executive Officer for Environmental Science and Engineering; Director, Ronald and Maxine Linde Center for Global Environmental Sci.
Paul O. Wennberg
Methane and carbon dioxide concentrations are increasing rapidly driving the Earth’s climate. Using remote sensing from space and the ground, we seek to quantify the underlying processes that drive these changes – both their emissions and sinks. We are working to evaluate whether atmospheric remote sensing of CO2 and methane can be used to accurately estimate emissions from individual cites and broader regions.