This inaugural lecture was given by Cabot Institute member Professor Jonathan Rougier, Professor of Statistical Science, School of Mathematics.

There is plenty of agreement about what we mean by ‘weather’, some agreement about ‘climate’, and quite a lot of confusion about ‘climate simulations’ – not about what they are, but about what they mean. Statisticians are very familiar with the underlying issues, which centre on uncertainty and our attempts to define and quantify it.  Professor Rougier will describe his own viewpoint, based on more than a decade of collaborating with climate scientists.

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