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Global Climate Observing System

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The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) is an international climate-observation coordination programme hosted by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in Geneva and launched in 1992 after the 1990 Second World Climate Conference.^[1]^[2] It does not directly make observations or generate data products; it defines requirements, coordinates observing systems, and works through member agencies and expert panels to improve observations for monitoring, understanding, and predicting climate.^[1]^[2]^[3]

GCOS maintains the Essential Climate Variables framework, covering 55 physical, chemical, and biological variables used to observe Earth's changing climate.^[4] Its governance includes a Steering Committee and atmospheric, ocean, and terrestrial observation panels, with national focal points and coordinators connecting global requirements to national observing systems.^[2]

The current co-sponsors are WMO, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the International Science Council.^[2] The International Council for Science was a founding co-sponsor and a predecessor of the International Science Council, which was formed through a merger in 2018.^[3]^[5]

Sources

[1]GCOS, History pageagency doc2026-06-20
[2]GCOS, official websiteagency doc2026-06-20
[3]International Science Council, GCOS member pageagency doc2026-06-20
[4]About Essential Climate Variablesagency doc2026-10-19
[5]A brief history - International Science Councilagency doc2026-10-19
[6]Wikipedia, Global Climate Observing Systemthird party2026-06-20

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Global Climate Observing System. EO-Atlas, SpectraWorks B.V. https://eo-atlas.org/companies/gcos (CC BY 4.0)

BibTeX

@misc{eoatlas:companies:gcos,
  title = {Global Climate Observing System},
  author = {{EO-Atlas}},
  publisher = {SpectraWorks B.V.},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
  url = {https://eo-atlas.org/companies/gcos}
}