Climate science or related technologies?

[node02]

I just started studying physics in undergrad and am considering working on Earth systems/climate. How much more do you think we can do in terms of science? Surely a lot, but maybe technology (energy, carbon capture) is more prudent right now. Thanks.

 

[Asteropaeus]

We can't predict the weather tomorrow with total accuracy. Let alone the climate. But weather and climate models have been improving. By how much? I don't know.
Technology is more prudent? For what?

Often, applications that are economically viable are the bottleneck of new technologies.

 

[node02]

We can't predict the weather tomorrow with total accuracy. Let alone the climate. But weather and climate models have been improving. By how much? I don't know.
Technology is more prudent? For what?

Often, applications that are economically viable are the bottleneck of new technologies.

More prudent to addressing the problems than science. I have moral assumptions about the suffering linked to climate change. For example, reducing atmospheric CO2 and therefore the overall effects of global warming would seem more prudent than getting more accuracy/precision in weather/climate models. It would sort of "chop closer to the roots." Whether that's true or not, I don't know. Perhaps better models is more feasible. I'm such a newbie that I haven't even considered economics.

In any case, thanks for replying.

 

[Andy Resnick]

I just started studying physics in undergrad and am considering working on Earth systems/climate. How much more do you think we can do in terms of science? Surely a lot, but maybe technology (energy, carbon capture) is more prudent right now. Thanks.

One of my colleagues does 'cloud physics'- the dynamics of cumulus cloud fields. It's a lot of multiscale modeling, he's an expert in Large Eddy Simulations (LES).

https://www.tropos.de/en/research/a...luence-on-cloud-processes/les-cloud-modeling/

 

[CapnGranite]

http://sites.agu.org/ The journals of the American Geophysical Union can give you a good idea of the linkage of physics to climate and Earth systems. I've been all over the place within the scope of Earth systems science, including geoneutrinos and cosmic rays, the magnetosphere, and some other areas. All this while being a member of the Global Environmental Change Focus Group. The group started out as "Global Warming" then changed its name to "Climate Change" and is now "Global Environmental Change" That last name reflects the understanding that things are happening that aren't directly measurable within the context of climate change. Things such as the movement of carbon in the mantle, the nature of that carbon, and ultimately touches on what some of us call "quantum geophysics".