InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Water Science and Society > Student Materials > Module 8.2: Cities in Peril: Future climate change, population growth, and water issues > Climate Change > Who does climate science?
InTeGrate's Earth-focused Modules and Courses for the Undergraduate Classroom
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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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These student materials complement the Water Science and Society Instructor Materials. If you would like your students to have access to the student materials, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing InTeGrate teaching materials.
Initial Publication Date: March 31, 2017

Who does climate science?

Just about anyone could do climate science. Agencies, particularly in the US and Europe, have made an immense amount of weather and climate data available and with a modest amount of training and software anyone could perform rudimentary analyses of temperature or precipitation trends (e.g., see ncdc.noaa.gov or weather.gov or prism.oregonstate.edu). Of course, such analyses don't answer all the questions. Tens of thousands of highly trained, independent scientists around the world collect and analyze climate data and develop models of global or regional climate change, which are typically tested using historical data and projected into the future. To provide a forum for discussion and debate that could be synthesized to represent our best understanding of climate change, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988. Thousands of scientists contribute data, analyses, and model results to the IPCC and provide critical peer review of any climate related research, all on a volunteer basis. Five major assessment reports have been generated by IPCC, with the most recent report released in 2014.

These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »