A new generation of sophisticated Earth models is gearing up for its first major test. But added complexity may lead to greater uncertainty about the future climate.
The UK government has slashed its financial support for the Met Office's climate programme. The move came in the same week that prime minister Gordon Brown laid out ambitious talk of a US$100-billion fund to help developing countries to cope with climate change.
The world's most pressing problems will be the focus of G8 talks next week, when leaders from rich nations and major emerging economies meet in Toyako on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. More than 30 years on, oil prices are again high on the agenda for the G8 gathering, which has climate change as its main focus. It is also expected to cover global food shortages, nuclear non-proliferation, African development and peace building.
Climatologists have called for massive investment in computer and research resources to help revolutionize modelling capabilities. The eventual aim is to provide probabilistic climate predictions that are as useful, and usable, as weather forecasts. At the end of a four-day summit held last week at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts in Reading, UK, the scientists made the case for a climate-prediction project on the scale of the Human Genome Project.
