Climate observations are essential for understanding the complexities of the global climate system; indeed virtually all breakthroughs that have been made in understanding climate have come from observations. Observations provide critical benchmarks for testing and further developing our predictive capability through models. While the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5) states that the human influence on the climate system is clear, it also notes that there are gaps in the current global climate observing system on which these statements are based. There are also increasing needs for more detailed climate observations resulting from adaption planning to reduce risks from climate change and variability. This is why it is crucial to make further progress towards achieving a fully implemented, sustainable, global observing system for climate. GCOS has been responsible since 1992 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate…
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