As climate models become increasingly relevant to policy makers, they are being criticized for not undergoing a formal verification and validation (V&V) process analogous to that used in engineering and regulatory applications. Further, claims are being made that climate models have been falsified by failing to predict specific future events.To date, establishing confidence in climate models has targeted the scientific community that develops and uses the models. As the climate models become increasingly policy relevant, it is critically important to address the public need for high-quality models for decision making and to establish public confidence in these models. An important element...