Two new reports, the U.S. National Climate Assessment and the Working Group I Assessment Report 5 (AR5) from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will be released in early 2014. These new assessments evaluate the state of the science and the major changes in findings over the last 4 to 6 years since the last assessments were released. During the process of developing these assessments, a number of new analyses have been completed that have helped resolve old issues but some have uncovered new scientific challenges. There are many indicators of a changing climate. These changes in climate and the projections of further changes over the coming decades present major challenges for society. The process of completing these assessments offers a unique opportunity to identify new scientific challenges to advance our understanding of this major societal challenge. This session will look at what we have learned, examine where the science is heading, and discuss the major issues where new scientific advances are needed. This session examines the recent changes in the science and what that tells us about the understanding of the changes occurring in climate and  discusses the big issues the scientific community is still struggling with and what this means to the direction of the science over the next decade. The emphasis will be on new research challenges.