The Physics of Climate and Climate Change

The talk will begin with a broad overview of climate science, including the history of the science itself, and what we have learned about the Earth’s climate system through analysis of paleoclimate data, the instrumental record, and, most importantly, the fundamental physics, chemistry, and biology underlying the climate system. Projections of future climates, made using both simple and complex models, will be discussed, with an emphasis on sources of uncertainty together with an assessment of whether and to what extent the level of uncertainty can be reduced. I will end the talk with reflections on how physicists might help find solutions for mitigating climate change.