BAMOS Vol 31 Special Issue October 2018 Bulletin Vol 31 Special Issue 01 2018 | Page 16

16 BAMOS Special Issue Can our brains keep pace with climate models? David Carlson Director, World Climate Research Programme, World Meteorological Organization As atmospheric CO 2 concentrations rise and humanity’s response founders, a broad research community adds flavour and complexity to our understanding of present and future climate. To make effective use of more-capable models running at higher resolution, and to validate those models with real- world data, requires enhanced collaboration. The climate modelling community uses the 6th phase of their Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) to rethink procedures and schedules. They opened all plans and documents for community access. They developed a schedule that encourages innovation and flexibility by modelling centres while enhancing collective impact. They recruited and organised an impressive range of scientific interest and contributions. Simultaneously, the observational community exploited open access data journals as a new mechanism to share a surprising range of climate-relevant data. Well-described freely-accessible global data sets on CO 2 , methane, ocean heat, stratospheric aerosols, tropospheric clouds and terrestrial soils—to name only a few— have revolutionised expectations for data sharing. These trends —flexible model infrastructure based on open frameworks and more than 250 openly-accessible data products—confirm the research community’s determination to make a strong difference in scientific understanding of climate and in access to climate information.