ABSTRACT
An important aspect of climate change management is the research that goes into the science-the (largely) behind-the-scenes intensive work being spent on every component and aspect of the problem. Climate change is such a complex issue that progress could not be made without the research and testing going on and those researchers presenting their results to the scienti…c community, so that the policy makers, in turn, become educated about the latest developments and discoveries. The professional guidance provided by climatologists, physical geographers, computer scientists, physicists, geologists, chemists, mathematicians, statisticians, and others who are actively engaged in research provide a critical piece to the big picture. This chapter focuses on those efforts, beginning with an overview of the role of climatechange research and then discussing climate modeling-how it began, its fundamentals, and the challenges that both climatologists and computer programmers face today in its development. The chapter also explores some of the diverse uses of climate models and how they are helping to increase scienti…c and public knowledge about climate change. It then looks in particular at two examples of how the science of remote sensing is currently being used in climate models to inventory, monitor, and assess natural resources in order to make important decisions concerning the long-term effects of climate change.
