This essay, written by a statistician and a climate scientist, describes our
view of the gap that exists between current practice in mainstream climate
science, and the practical needs of policymakers charged with exploring
possible interventions in the context of climate change. By `mainstream' we
mean the type of climate science that dominates in universities and research
centres, which we will term `academic' climate science, in contrast to `policy'
climate science; aspects of this distinction will become clearer in what
follows.
In a nutshell, we do not think that academic climate science equips climate
scientists to be as helpful as they might be, when involved in climate policy
assessment. Partly, we attribute this to an over-investment in high resolution
climate simulators, and partly to a culture that is uncomfortable with the
inherently subjective nature of climate uncertainty.Comment: submitted as contribution to Conceptual Foundations of
ClimateModeling, Winsberg, E. and Lloyd, E., eds., The University of Chicago
Pres
