Climate Sciences Core Capability: Climate Modeling
LBNL-Earth Sciences Division’s Climate Science Department is a leader in developing predictive models that reveal complex processes shaping and controlling the planet. The goal of our climate modeling research is not only to predict climate, but to predict interactions among climate, water, and energy on a global scale. Our research seeks to improve multiscale simulations of abrupt and extreme climate change, develop projections of direct and indirect effects of aerosols on Earth’s climate, and analyze solutions for climate-change mitigation. We are also engaged in the development of theory and numerical simulations of the greenhouse effect. Through our research, we will be able to incorporate fresh data and generate new scenarios at any point: energy demand and carbon emissions; changes in the composition of the atmosphere, including the heat entering and leaving it; impacts on ecosystems and human well-being; and different strategies to mitigate or adapt to change. Climate models used in this research include the Community Climate System Model (CCSM) and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Model (AOGCM).