The NOAA IR serves as an archival repository of NOAA-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other information authored or co-authored by NOAA or funded partners.
As a repository, the NOAA IR retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.
i
State‐Dependence of the Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity in a Clear‐Sky GCM
-
2023
-
-
Source: Geophysical Research Letters, 50(23)
[PDF-957.02 KB]
Details:
-
Journal Title:Geophysical Research Letters
-
Personal Author:
-
NOAA Program & Office:
-
Description:The climate sensitivity peaks around 310 K in a wide variety of climate models, ranging from idealized single column models to fully comprehensive climate models. Here, we increase CO2 using a clear‐sky three‐dimensional atmospheric model with a radiation scheme which maintains accuracy for high CO2 and temperature levels. In contrast, the Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity (ECS) of our model plateaus around 310 K. We show that this is due to the moistening of the subtropical regions caused by a slowdown in atmospheric circulation, which increases the ECS at very high CO2 values. When relative humidity is fixed, the ECS peak is consistent with single column model results. This work does not rule out that clouds or other complex processes impact the ECS in comprehensive climate models. Though the changes in CO2 here are extreme, this study underlines the importance of changes in atmospheric circulation and relative humidity in quantitative assessments of climate sensitivity.
-
Keywords:
-
Source:Geophysical Research Letters, 50(23)
-
DOI:
-
ISSN:0094-8276;1944-8007;
-
Format:
-
Publisher:
-
Document Type:
-
Funding:
-
License:
-
Rights Information:CC BY
-
Compliance:Library
-
Main Document Checksum:
-
Download URL:
-
File Type:
