Welcome to SEARCA Knowledge Center on Climate Change Adaptation in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management in Southeast Asia (KC3)

A closer look at Climate Information and Services

Why do we need climate information?

‘Adapt to what exactly?’ is the first question a decisionmaker may ask when faced with the need to prepare for the consequences of climate change. Without knowing the expected changes in climatic conditions, proactive and anticipatory adaptation approaches are difficult. We might identify no-regret measures that are suitable to different climate change scenarios, but the more we know, the better our responses can be. In a changing climate we, therefore, need usable climate information and services to support adaptive management and decision-making.

What are climate information products and services?

Climate information products range from global emission scenarios and climate model outputs to information about local impacts and vulnerability to climate change. Generating these products requires meteorological, hydrological, oceanographic, terrestrial (collectively, the Essential Climate Variables, or ECVs), and socio-economic data, along with information from various other fields of research. Providing information about climate change entails the provision of historical data sets as well as generating future predictions of weather elements on monthly, seasonal or decadal timescales and their impact on natural and human systems. It is, however, no trivial undertaking to know about the future climate, and there are different sources of data and information. There are different levels of certainty with regards to information, and it varies in terms of complexity, completeness, usefulness, and usability. Within this context, it is important for adaptation decision-makers to understand how climate information is generated.