There are many basic, yet unanswered questions about the dynamics of the Earth’s climate. Research at RSMAS addresses some of these questions using varied approaches that include both modelling and field studies. Here are some examples:

How sensitive is the Earth ’s climate to greenhouse gas forcing?

There is now general scientific consensus that human-induced increases in greenhouse gases have cause the Earth to warm over the last 50 years (www.ipcc.ch). There is, however, uncertainty as to how much the Earth will warm under greenhouse gas increases in the future (see Figure 1), and how other aspects of climate such as the water cycle will change. Researchers at RSMAS are using computer models of the Earth’s climate to evaluate the processes that influence the climate response to greenhouse gas forcing.