The Science of Climate Change

Abstract: A brief historical perspective of climate change science since the publication of Joseph Fourier's papers on the greenhouse effect up to the development of General Circulation Models and the more accurate prediction of climate change as a result of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases by Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann and the connection of their work to Giorgio Parisi's contributions to the theory of disordered materials and random processes, will be presented. The present world situation as regards climate change and its future evolution will be discussed. Finally an overview of the main climate change impacts now and in the future in Europe and in Portugal will be presented.