A weather system can be described by how quantities such as the speed, pressure and temperature of the gases behave in the atmosphere, and the water behaves in the ocean. These quantities move in 3-dimensional space.

A large number of complex mathematical equations describe their behaviour. However, they are too complex to solve by hand, or on a personal computer.

Climate models need a lot of computing power.

Supercomputers provide an extremely powerful, fast environment with many thousands of processing units to process these complex equations.

More and more climate processes have been incorporated into global models over many decades as computing power has increased.

Illustration of the processes added to global climate models over the decades, from the mid-1970s, through the first four IPCC assessment reports. Source: Adapted from the IPCC

Climate model beginner

What is a climate model?

How do climate models work?

What’s the difference between weather and climate?

What are greenhouse gases?

What is climate change?

Climate model stakeholder

How do you choose the right climate model?

What does climate model resolution mean?

How accurate have climate models been so far?

What is a climate model bias?

Climate modelling home page

Climate model expert

Briefing: Climate modelling – an overview

Briefing: A closer look at climate modelling

Understanding how groundwater dynamics impacts droughts and heatwaves using a land surface model

Studying the ocean around Antarctica using ocean models

Understanding the meteorological drivers of the Black Summer fire events using high resolution simulations