We Always Make Models for Something, Not of Something

Abstract

There are very different types of models, we usually talk about hierarchies of models of different complexities. That goes from maximally simple models to maximally complex models. Maximally complex models, the global climate models (GCMs), try to describe the climate as a whole and they are all quite similar to each other. Some may be spectral models while others use finite differences. But in principle they are all built on the same ideas. Maybe one should point out that the concept of a “model” is not an easy one, simply because different scientific disciplines mean something different when they talk about models.

Photography: Courtesy of KlimaCampus, Foto Aussenhofer