Purdue Climate Change Research Center

Supporting collaborative research
for people and our planet

Purdue Climate Change Research Center

Supporting collaborative research for people and our planet

Our changing climate

Climate change can no longer be considered a problem of the future. It is happening now. Our actions today determine tomorrow’s climate and its consequences.

Heat Waves

Record-breaking temperatures and increasing demand for cooling

Carbon Dioxide

parts per million

Levels are at their highest in over 800,000 years.

Water-logged

Changing rainfall patterns and heavier downpours

Global Temperature

↑°F

Since 1880

Eighteen of the 19 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001.

Stressed Environments

Increasing demand for diminishing physical and biological resources

Arctic Sea Ice

↓%

per decade

The Arctic ice cap is smaller, thinner than at any time in modern history.

*Climate statistics courtesy of NASA Global Climate Change Vital Signs of the Planet

"When we plan for the future, we need to take changing weather patterns into account – here in Indiana and in communities around the world."

– Jeffrey Dukes, PCCRC Director

Responding to change

Before 1869, when Purdue University was founded, scientists had already discovered that carbon dioxide helps to keep Earth warm. In the 150 years since then, further scientific research has described the links between human activities, greenhouse gas emissions, and the response of the climate system. Today, research at Purdue examines climates of the past, present, and future, and studies how people and nature are responding to these changes.

Faculty affiliates

Scientific papers

Student affiliates

Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment

Putting global change into local perspective

Coordinated by the Purdue Climate Change Research Center (PCCRC), scientists and decision makers from across the state are working together to develop a series of reports that shows how a changing climate will affect state and local interests. The Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment (IN CCIA) provides accessible, credible climate science to Hoosiers, allowing us to better understand climate change-related risks and build more effective plans for a more productive future.

Read the Reports

Nature paper offers global map to understand changing forests

May 15, 2019

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – An international collaboration of hundreds of scientists – led in part by the Forest Advanced Computing and Artificial Intelligence (FACAI) Laboratory in Purdue’s Department of Forestry and Natural Resources – has developed the world’s first global map of tree symbioses. The map is key to understanding how forests are changing and […]

Severe thunderstorms are expected to occur more often in a warmer climate

May 27, 2019

Commonly known as thunderstorm, hazardous convective weather (HCW) such as damaging wind gusts, large hail, tornadoes and flash flooding, pose a significant threat to life and property and remain a prominent source of weather-related losses in the United States. While the risk for weather disasters certainly increases as the population grows and people move into […]

"The climate is changing, and it's important that we respond...the Purdue Climate Change Research Center is helping Indiana prepare for the future."

– Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, Chief Scientist & Executive Director of Discovery Park

Worldwide Impact

The center supports climate change research at Purdue to improve understanding of the causes and consequences of the Earth’s changing climate system and enhance the capacity of decision makers to develop effective mitigation and adaptation strategies. As the pace of change accelerates and the broad-reaching effects of climate change become more apparent, this work becomes increasingly urgent.

Get involved

Interested in joining the center as an affiliate? Looking for a collaborator? Have questions or suggestions for us? Want to help the center with a gift of support?

Over

completed research projects

Provided

student travel grants

Hosted

campus workshops, conferences, & lectures

Get Involved