The Crucial Role of R&D in Advancing Climate Services

Climate services entail an end-to-end application of the effective development to reliable delivery of climate information and products to stakeholders within the context of their decision-making matrix. In addition to ensuring communities adapt effectively to weather and climate extremes, climate services have the potential to guide and enable society to be on pathways of a smooth energy transition. Robust climate services need each of the interconnected linkages to be robust: from scientific insights of Earth System processes and phenomena through observations, modeling, and simulations; to tailored products be they climate predictions, projections and/or scenarios; to sustained and effective outreach and communication strategies so decision-makers make judicious choices. Other crucial elements that need attention are the following: incorporation of best practices in integration of local knowledge and stakeholder input; strengthening of expertise in vulnerable sectors to build resilience; and training/workforce development of the next generation of scientists that draws from a broad diverse talent pool.

Through investments that support climate research and associated research infrastructure, NSF plays a crucial role in generating foundational knowledge that enables robust climate services. This talk will describe how NSF disciplinary and interdisciplinary programs, as well as collaborative efforts with other agencies and international partners contribute to advancing climate services.