World Climate Research Program

THE WORLD CLIMATE Research Program (WCRP) is sponsored by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and the Intergovernmental Océanographie Commission (IOC) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The program brings together the intellectual and structural potentialities related to climate and climate change of more than 185 countries. The program thus aims to work as an international forum to share scientific discoveries and facilities to advance the understanding of the phenomena that influence climate. The two underlying objectives of the WCRP are to determine the predictability of climate and to assess the effect of human activities on it.

These two objectives stem from the needs identified by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. To achieve its objectives, the WCRP adopts a multidisciplinary approach, organizes extensive observational and modeling projects, and encourages researches on aspects of climate too large and complex to be addressed by any one nation or single scientific discipline. The WCRP is not open exclusively to scientists. On the contrary, it aims to involve different subjects such as policymakers, information end-users, and sponsors in a scientifically accurate debate on climate change and variability.

The WCRP was established in 1980. It was initially joint-sponsored by the ICSU and the WMO. Since 1993, the IOC of UNESCO has also become a sponsor of the program. Since its establishment, the WCRP has contributed to the advancement of climate science. Thanks to WCRP researchers, climate scientists can monitor, simulate, and project global climate with improved accuracy so that climate [Page 1104]information can be used for governance, in decision making, and in support of a wide range of practical applications. In 2005, after 25 years of serving science and society, the WCRP launched its Strategy Framework 2005–2015, which expresses the program's commitment to working efficiently and effectively toward strengthening knowledge and increasing capabilities with regard to climate variability and change. Titled the Coordinated Observation and Prediction of the Earth System, the framework aims “to facilitate analysis and prediction of Earth system variability and change for use in an increasing range of practical applications of direct relevance, benefit and value to society.” The WCRP is thus devoted to provide a larger series of products and services to an ever-increasing group of users. The WCRP intends to reach this goal through the integration of observations and models to generate new understanding and improve climate predictions.

Today, the WCRP covers studies of the different parts of the Earths climate system: global atmosphere, oceans, sea and land ice, the biosphere, and the land surface. The major core projects, diverse working groups, various cross-cutting activities, and many cosponsored activities of the WCRP all aim to improve scientific understanding of processes that can enable better forecasts.

The Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) project studies the dynamics and thermodynamics of the atmosphere, the atmosphere s interactions with the Earth's surface (especially over land), and the global water cycle. GEWEX uses suitable models to represent and forecast the variations of the global hydrological regime and its effect on atmospheric and surface dynamics. GEWEX also focuses on variations in regional hydrological processes and water resources and their response to changes in the environment, such as the increase in greenhouse gases. GEWEX projects are divided into three focus areas corresponding to the key elements in the global energy and water cycle: radiation, hydrometeorology, and modeling and prediction.

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