A Systematic Approach for Climate Change Decision Support

To effectively predict and prepare for the effects of global climate change on the worldwide population, infrastructure and economy, we need to take a quantum leap forward in how we deal with the issue. Those who must make climate-sensitive decisions need access to the best available climate science information and analysis. To overcome barriers and change behavior, the information must be credible, robust, unbiased, and based on research results that are broadly accepted by the climate science community. Moreover, the process for delivery of information must be tailored to the users’ needs and practices. Unfortunately, much of climate science data today is in the “science domain”, and not available to end users in a form they can use to take action. So there is a need to bridge the gap and take a systematic approach driven by user requirements to sharing climate change science research and analysis with decision makers that would enable them to develop adaptation and mitigation strategies. These needs will become all the more pressing as climate change information is used in real world decisions involving the commitment of large resources and with potential liability and litigation. In this paper, we describe an approach that involves multidisciplinary cooperation and systematic integration of climate change data acquisition and management, climate modeling and projections, uncertainty quantification and risk assessments, economic analysis, and decision support delivered through customized user interfaces.