|
|
|
Climate: Understanding, assessing, predicting, mitigating, and adapting to climate variability and changeClimate change is now widely accepted as a major challenge for humanity, which in the end may turn out to be a significant obstacle for a sustainable future. The science of climate change has been recognized as related to the global well-being and peace, and mitigation of climate change and its impact on the environment are high on the political agenda. However, many processes in the global climate system are still not fully understood, and in particular the response of the climate system to the significant anthropogenic changes of the planet is unclear. Key uncertainties involve the role of clouds, the magnitude and timing of future sea-level rise, the global-scale processes in the carbon cycle, the impact of changes in land cover and ecosystems on climate, and the impact of anthropogenic aerosols. Clarifying these questions is of paramount importance in order to provide sufficient assistance to governments in their effort to develop more effective policies for mitigating, and adapting to, climate change. The Global Climate Observing Systems (GCOS) and many other components of the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS) provide crucial observations for the science of climate change, and they provide the monitoring required to detect in a timely manner significant changes in the Earth climate system. The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) therefore strongly advocates for sustained and coordinated operation of these observing systems. Capacity building is an important issue in all nine SBA, specifically the Climate SBA. Some parts of the world have advanced monitoring systems and model-based services, while in other parts large gaps exist. GEO focuses on facilitating the transition of technologies and knowledge from the more advanced areas to those in need of enhanced capacity. GEO also aims to identify key data sets and facilitate the collection of these data sets. |
Examples in the Climate SBA:
|