Statement to the US Commission on Ocean Policy by Lisa Goddard. Columbia University, Sept. 25, 2002, Chicago, IL

Climate prediction has advanced considerably in the past 20 years, but substantial room for improvement still exists (see review paper by Goddard et al. 2001 for more complete description of the current approaches to seasonal-to-interannual climate prediction and identification of prediction research frontiers). Such improvements rely critically on the establishment and maintenance of quality observing networks, particularly in the global oceans. Also crucial for improved climate prediction capability are increased computational and human resources and more coordinated management of current resources for model development.