The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) was established in 1980, under the joint sponsorship of International Council for Science and the World Meteorological Organization, and has also been sponsored by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO since 1993. It is a component of the World Climate Programme. The objectives of the programme are to develop the fundamental scientific understanding of the physical climate system and climate processes needed to determine to what extent climate can be predicted and the extent of human influence on climate. The programme encompasses studies of the global atmosphere, oceans, sea ice, land ice (such as glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets), and the land surface which together constitute the Earth's physical climate system.