The gap between simulation and understanding in climate modeling

The problem of creating truly convincing numerical simulations of our Earth's climate will remain a challenge for the next generation of climate scientists. Hopefully, the ever increasing power of computers will make this task somewhat less frustrating than it is at present. But, increasing computational power also raises issues as to how we would like to see climate modeling and the study of climate dynamics evolve in the twenty-first century. One of the key issues we will need to address is the widening gap between simulation and understanding.