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The UK Climate Projections (UKCP09) are the fifth generation of climate change information to be produced for the UK. Climate change information has evolved as scientists' knowledge of climate, available computing power and the needs of those who use climate information have developed.
Climate science and computer modelling have advanced significantly since the UK produced its first climate change information. UKCP09 reflects scientists' best understanding of how the climate system operates and how it might change in the future, but no climate model can give a single definite answer to what the future will look like.
At several stages during development, organisations were asked what they wanted from UKCP09. Thanks to this, UKCP09 is able to reflect its users’ needs much more than previous climate information packages.
One of the things that users asked for was information about the uncertainties associated with future climate information, to help them to assess the range of risks that climate change poses. UKCP09 does this by showing a range of possible outcomes and the probability of each outcome, based on how much evidence there is for different levels of future climate change, using a particular methodology and expert judgement.
Support for UKCP09 users is provided by online guidance and regularly-updated FAQs, as well as a helpdesk. These are available from the UKCP09 website. For the longer-term, training sessions and an e-learning course will be available for all, to encourage more people to use UKCP09.
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