ECV introduction

Essential Climate Variables are key indicators that describe Earth's changing climate.

Essential climate variables (ECVs) critically contribute to the characterisation of Earth' s climate, providing a picture of climate change at a global scale.

Collectively, they provide the empirical evidence to support climate science and better predict future change. They can be used to guide mitigation and adaptation measures, to assess climate risks, to attribute climatic events to underlying causes, and to support climate services. GCOS | WMO