Goals

Our purpose is to make it possible for policy makers, educators, students of climate and climate change, and instructors to use the Integrated Science Assessment Model (ISAM)over the web.

ISAM is a state-of-the-art model that takes projections of human emissions of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases and of atmospheric particulates and generates predictions of future greenhouse gas and aerosol concentrations, global climate change, and the impacts of climate change such as the expected rise in sea level.

The goal of this site is to integrate the human user into a climate modeling system, and allow the user to:

• develop scenarios of greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions
• evaluate the impact of anthropogenic emissions on the global climate and on sea level
• observe the direct and tangible results of policy decisions regarding energy consumption, choices of energy sources, and agricultural and land-use practices
• alter the various physical formulations of ISAM and examine the impact of such changes on the climate system learn about the implications of various structures of the modeled system
• assess the role of climate sensitivity in global climate response