Recognizing the enormous scientific implications and potential benefits to society from accurate and reliable seasonal forecasts, Shukla took an extraordinary and risky decision to resign from his tenure professorship at the University of Maryland, and start a nonprofit institute, IGES, in his garage.

Work by Shukla and his scientific colleagues has inspired routine dynamical seasonal prediction by numerous weather and climate centres around the world, helping society manage agricultural and economic activities, saving lives and property.

Shukla also recognised the importance of land surface processes in climate variability and predictability and therefore established the Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA).

He was a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report in 2007, which shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Vice-President Al Gore.

At the behest of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Shukla helped establish the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) in New Delhi, India.

At the behest of the late Dr. Abdus Salam, Shukla helped to form a weather and climate research group at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy, which provides training to many scientists from developing countries.

At the behest of the then Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Shukla was appointed to be the Chairman of the International Advisory Panel to advance the weather and climate enterprise of India.

On 1 September 2015, Shukla was lead author of a letter from twenty climate scientists to President Obama, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and OSTP Director John Holdren calling on government to prosecute corporations and other organizations that have “knowingly deceived the American people about the risks of climate change” using RICO laws designed for other forms of organized crime.