Researching the full complexity of chemical processes in the atmosphere, ocean and at the land surface and their impact on the future of climate is a relatively new scientific endeavour for the WCRP. The main foci of current studies are the role of greenhouse gases in climate warming (Climate Change brochure), the issues associated with stratospheric ozone depletion, tropospheric aerosol loading, and the acidification of the ocean. The WCRP research underpins enhanced observation campaigns directed towards comprehensive monitoring of the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the WMO Global Atmosphere Watch and the implementation of the IGOS Integrated Global Atmosphere Chemistry Theme using the latest generation of satellite sensors. A major effort in chemistry modelling is currently focussed on the detailed representation of chemical constituents and processes in Earth system and climate models. This work is led jointly by the WCRP and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) in projects on Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate (SPARC) and International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC). Other key contributors to this area of research are the joint IGBP-WCRP Surface Ocean - Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS) studying biogeochemical interactions between the ocean and atmosphere, and the Global Carbon Project of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) developing science to support future crucial decisions in the challenging field of global carbon management.

Read more on the recently established WCRP/SPARC Chemistry-Climate Model Validation (CCMVal) activity. The goal of CCMVal is to improve understanding of coupled chemistry-climate models (CCMs) and their underlying general circulation models (GCMs) through process-oriented evaluation, along with discussion and coordination analysis of science results.