The WCRP Grand Challenges represent areas of emphasis in scientific research, modelling, analysis and observations for WCRP and its affiliate projects in the coming decade. They were developed by the WCRP Joint Scientific Committee (JSC) through consultation with WCRP sponsors, stakeholders and affiliate networks of scientists. WCRP promotes the Grand Challenges through community-organized workshops, conferences and strategic planning meetings to identify exciting and high-priority research that requires international partnership and coordination, and that yields “actionable information” for decision makers.

The Grand Challenges:

  • are both highly specific and highly focused, identifying a specific barrier preventing progress in a critical area of climate science;
  • enable the development of targeted research efforts with the likelihood of significant progress over 5-10 years, even if their ultimate success is uncertain;
  • enable the implementation of effective and measurable performance metrics;
  • are transformative - a Grand Challenge should bring the best minds to the table (voluntarily), building and strengthening communities of collaborative innovators, perhaps also extending beyond “in-house expertise”;
  • capture the public’s imagination - teams of renowned scientists working to solve pressing challenges; and 
  • offer compelling storylines to capture the interest of media and the public.

The current Grand Challenges are:

Click on the hexagons to go to the respective Grand Challenge:
Grand Challenges
Grand Challenge on Melting Ice and Global Consequences Grand Challenge on Clouds, Circulation and Climate Sensitivity Grand Challenge on Regional Sea-Level Change and Coastal Impacts Grand Challenge on Weather and Climate Extremes Grand Challenge on Near-Term Climate Prediction Grand Challenge on Water for the Food Baskets of the World Grand Challenge on Carbon Feedbacks in the Climate System
Grand Challenges

WCRP Grand Challenge on Clouds, Circulation and Climate Sensitivity
 
How do clouds couple to circulations in the present climate?
How will clouds and circulation respond to global warming or other forcings?
How will they feed back on it through their influence on Earth's radiation budget?

Limited understanding of clouds is the major source of uncertainty in climate sensitivity, but it also contributes substantially to persistent biases in modelled circulation systems.

As one of the main modulators of heating in the atmosphere, clouds control many other aspects of the climate system. Read more in the white paper.

The WCRP Grand Challenge on Clouds, Circulation and Climate Sensitivity is articulated around five main initiatives, complementary and coupled to each other: