Climate Science and Projections

Climate science and projections is the work of measuring the climate and forecasting how it may change. Federal agencies run satellites, ocean buoys, weather stations, and computer models, then turn the results into official records and reports. Agencies such as NOAA and NASA, along with research bodies and universities, are central to this work.

Readers usually want to know where climate numbers come from and who is responsible for them. They ask how scientists build predictions, how those predictions reach policymakers, and how public assessments are produced. They also ask how disagreement over the science plays out in public debate.