A sweeping energy bill under consideration by a House panel not only would try to curb global warming but also would create a federal program on adapting to climate changes that may be inevitable.

Draft legislation recently unveiled by Henry A. Waxman , D-Calif., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, would set up a “national climate service” within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide information on the effects of climate change.

The centerpiece of the bill would mandate an 83 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and require greater use of renewable-energy sources. Waxman and Edward J. Markey , D-Mass., chairman of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, plan to begin marking up the bill later this month.

While the emissions cap is likely to be the focus of attention and debate, most climate scientists agree that some degree of global warming is unavoidable — and that any energy legislation must take that finding into account.

Jane Lubchenco, who was named NOAA administrator by President Obama, is making a national climate service one of her priorities.

“We need to also be preparing for climate changes that are already under way and are going to increase with time,” she said in an interview. “This was a concept that to me was a no-brainer.”

The goal of the new service would be to help states, localities and businesses factor climate change into their long-term planning. For instance, it could help utility companies that provide drinking water account for changes in rainfall or decreases in snowpack. It also could help officials determine the best building techniques near sea level in anticipation of floods and storm surges.

“These are very practical decisions about infrastructure that has a long life span,” Lubchenco said.

Detailed information is lacking on the potential effects of climate change in the United States, particularly at the regional level, many scientists say, and previous models of predicting such changes no longer apply.

“You can’t manage the future simply by analyzing the past,” said Donald F. Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

Currently, the public does not have access to much of the research on the effects of global warming, Lubchenco said.

“We’ve already seen the models improve vastly,” she said. “What everybody wants to know is, ‘What does this mean to me and the decisions I’m making?’”

NOAA staff are developing the idea of a climate service while trying to coordinate with Congress. The bill does not specify the new program’s size or cost, issues that Lubchenco said are still under discussion.