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Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et l'Environnement
The Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et l'Environnement (Laboratory for Climate and Environmental Sciences, or LSCE), is a French environmental research institute. Furthermore, it is a component of a large group of laboratories in the greater Parisian region that together constitute the Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, or IPSL - one of the global driving forces behind questions of environmental science, and in particular climate science. The activity of the LSCE is centred on the 'study of the mechanisms of climate change and of the atmospheric environment of the Earth'. Many of its researchers play an important role in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). But the range of studies conducted at the institute is diverse - it accommodates both computer modellers and experimental specialists. Some areas of expertise include glacial science, remote sensing and the study of air quality. Together with the LMD (the Laboratory of Dynamic Meteorology, and a fellow member of IPSL), it is the home of the ORCHIDEE land surface model.

History
The LSCE was created in January 1998 as a result of the merging of two former research labs: the CFR (the Centre for low level radioactivity) and the LMCE (the Laboratory for Modelling of Climate and the Environment). Today, it is jointly funded by three organisations, namely the CEA (the French atomic and alternative energy research agency), the CNRS (the French National Centre for Scientific Research) and the UVSQ (University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines).

Research themes
The research themes of the institute fall into three main axis:
 * 1) Climate Science, which centres on the understanding of mechanisms in the natural variability of climate across different scales of time - at both large natural climate cycles (for example glaciology and dendrochronology) and on the more recent past (the Anthropocene refers to human influences on climate). The study of these two different time scales complements the study and forecasting of future climate, and of global warming in particular.
 * 2) Biogeochemical Cycles, which focuses on the understanding of the processes involved in the cycle of key components that interact with the environment. The teams of this theme have acquired over time a significant reputation. especially for their work on the carbon cycle, and on aerosol interactions and processes.
 * 3) Geosciences, which includes mainly geochronology and the analysis of geomarkers. This theme is based around the historical expertise of the CEA in a range of techniques that are applicable to the study of the past and present geosphere and to its relations with the climate as derived from radioactive tracers.

Location
The LSCE is split between two sites a little over a mile apart, and 14 miles to the south-west of Paris: Orme des Merisiers, at the CEA site on the plateau of Saclay, and Gif-sur-Yvette, a CNRS site also known as 'the Valley'. The Orme des Merisiers site focuses principally on the themes of climate science and of biogeochemical cycles (the first two themes discussed above) whereas the 'Valley' accommodates the third theme of geosciences. The dynamic nature of these research fields has permitted the LSCE to grow rapidly, and today approximately 250 researchers, doctoral students and engineers work at the laboratory.