Radiative forcing and response of a GCM to ice age boundary conditions: cloud feedback and climate sensitivity

 A general circulation model is used to examine the effects of reduced atmospheric CO₂, insolation changes and an updated reconstruction of the continental ice sheets at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). A set of experiments is performed to estimate the radiative forcing from each of the boundary conditions. These calculations are used to estimate a total radiative forcing for the climate of the LGM. The response of the general circulation model to the forcing from each of the changed boundary conditions is then investigated. About two-thirds of the simulated glacial cooling is due to the presence of the continental ice sheets. The effect of the cloud feedback is substantially modified where there are large changes to surface albedo. Finally, the climate sensitivity is estimated based on the global mean LGM radiative forcing and temperature response, and is compared to the climate sensitivity calculated from equilibrium experiments with atmospheric CO₂ doubled from present day concentration. The calculations here using the model and palaeodata support a climate sensitivity of about 1 Wm^-2 K^-1 which is within the conventional range. Received: 8 February 1997 / Accepted: 4 June 1997     

On the role of flux adjustments in an idealized coupled climate model

 The effect of employing flux adjustments on the climatic response of an idealized coupled model to an imposed radiative forcing is investigated with two coupled models, one of which employs flux adjustments. A linear reduction (to the planetary longwave flux) of 4 W/m² is applied over a 70 y period and held constant thereafter. Similar model responses are found (during the initial 70 y period) for global-scale diagnostics of hemispheric air temperature due to the nearly linear surface-air temperature response to the radiative forcing. Significant regional scale differences do exist, however. As the perturbation away from the present climate grows, basin-scale diagnostics (such as meridional overturning rates) begin to diverge between flux adjusted and non-flux adjusted models. Once the imposed radiative forcing is held constant, differences in global mean air temperature of up to 0.5 °C are found, with large regional-scale differences in air temperature and overturning rates within the North Atlantic and Southern Ocean. Two additional experiments with the flux adjusted model (beginning from points further along the control integration) suggest that the elimination of much of the coupling shock before the radiative forcing is applied leads to results slightly closer to the non-flux adjusted case, although large differences still persist. In particular a dipole structure indicating an enhanced warming within the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean, and cooling within the Atlantic sector is not reproduced by the flux adjusted models. This disparity is intimately linked to the Southern Ocean overturning cell along with the flux adjustments employed as well as the drift arising from coupling shock. If a similar form of sensitivity exists in more realistic coupled models, our results suggest: (1) perturbation experiments should not be undertaken until after the coupled model control experiment is carried out for several hundred years (thereby minimizing the coupling shock); (2) care should be exercised in the interpretation of regional-scale results (over the ocean) in coupled models which employ flux adjustments; (3) care should also be taken in interpreting even global-scale diagnostics in flux adjusted models for large perturbations about the present climate. Received: 15 November 1996 / Accepted: 4 June 1997     

Climate forcings and climate sensitivities diagnosed from atmospheric global circulation models

Understanding the historical and future response of the global climate system to anthropogenic emissions of radiatively active atmospheric constituents has become a timely and compelling concern. At present, however, there are uncertainties in: the total radiative forcing associated with changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere; the effective forcing applied to the climate system resulting from a (temporary) reduction via ocean-heat uptake; and the strength of the climate feedbacks that subsequently modify this forcing. Here a set of analyses derived from atmospheric general circulation model simulations are used to estimate the effective and total radiative forcing of the observed climate system due to anthropogenic emissions over the last 50 years of the twentieth century. They are also used to estimate the sensitivity of the observed climate system to these emissions, as well as the expected change in global surface temperatures once the climate system returns to radiative equilibrium. Results indicate that estimates of the effective radiative forcing and total radiative forcing associated with historical anthropogenic emissions differ across models. In addition estimates of the historical sensitivity of the climate to these emissions differ across models. However, results suggest that the variations in climate sensitivity and total climate forcing are not independent, and that the two vary inversely with respect to one another. As such, expected equilibrium temperature changes, which are given by the product of the total radiative forcing and the climate sensitivity, are relatively constant between models, particularly in comparison to results in which the total radiative forcing is assumed constant. Implications of these results for projected future climate forcings and subsequent responses are also discussed.     

On aspects of the concept of radiative forcing

 The concept of radiative forcing has been extensively used as an indicator of the potential importance of climate change mechanisms. It allows a first order estimate of the global-mean surface temperature change; and it is possible to compare forcings from different mechanisms, on the assumption that similar global-mean forcings produce similar global-mean surface temperature changes. This study illustrates two circumstances where simple models show that the conventional definition of radiative forcing needs refining. These problems arise mainly with the calculation of forcing due to stratospheric ozone depletion. The first part uses simple arguments to produce an alternative definition of radiative forcing, using a time-dependent stratospheric adjustment method, which can give different forcings from those calculated using the standard definition. A seasonally varying ozone depletion can produce a quite different seasonal evolution of forcing than fixed dynamical heating arguments would suggest. This is especially true of an idealised and extreme “Antarctic ozone hole” type scenario where a sudden loss of ozone is followed by a sudden recovery. However, for observed ozone changes the annually averaged forcing is usually within 5% of the forcing calculated using the fixed dynamical heating approximation. Another problem with the accepted view of radiative forcing arises from the definition of the tropopause considered in the second part of this study. For a correct radiative forcing estimate the “tropopause” needs to separate the atmosphere into regions with a purely radiative response and those with a radiative-convective response. From radiative-convective model results it is found that radiative equilibrium conditions persist for several kilometres below the tropopause (the tropopause being defined as where the lapse rate reaches 2 K km^-1). This region needs to be included in stratospheric adjustment calculations for an accurate calculation of forcing, as it is only the region between the surface and the top of the convection that can be considered as a single, forced, system. Including temperature changes in this region has a very large effect on stratospheric ozone forcing estimates, and can reduce the magnitude of the forcing by more than a factor of two. Although these experiments are performed using simple climate models, the results are of equal importance for the analysis of forcing-response relationships using general circulation models. Received: 25 October 1996/Accepted: 14 April 1997     

An examination of climate sensitivity for idealised climate change experiments in an intermediate general circulation model

Radiative forcing and climate sensitivity have been widely used as concepts to understand climate change. This work performs climate change experiments with an intermediate general circulation model (IGCM) to examine the robustness of the radiative forcing concept for carbon dioxide and solar constant changes. This IGCM has been specifically developed as a computationally fast model, but one that allows an interaction between physical processes and large-scale dynamics; the model allows many long integrations to be performed relatively quickly. It employs a fast and accurate radiative transfer scheme, as well as simple convection and surface schemes, and a slab ocean, to model the effects of climate change mechanisms on the atmospheric temperatures and dynamics with a reasonable degree of complexity. The climatology of the IGCM run at T-21 resolution with 22 levels is compared to European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting Reanalysis data. The response of the model to changes in carbon dioxide and solar output are examined when these changes are applied globally and when constrained geographically (e.g. over land only). The CO₂ experiments have a roughly 17% higher climate sensitivity than the solar experiments. It is also found that a forcing at high latitudes causes a 40% higher climate sensitivity than a forcing only applied at low latitudes. It is found that, despite differences in the model feedbacks, climate sensitivity is roughly constant over a range of distributions of CO₂ and solar forcings. Hence, in the IGCM at least, the radiative forcing concept is capable of predicting global surface temperature changes to within 30%, for the perturbations described here. It is concluded that radiative forcing remains a useful tool for assessing the natural and anthropogenic impact of climate change mechanisms on surface temperature.     

The Relationship Between Radiative Forcing and Temperature: What Do Statistical Analyses of the Instrumental Temperature Record Measure?

Comparing statistical estimates for the long-run temperature effect of doubled CO₂ with those generated by climate models begs the question, is the long-run temperature effect of doubled CO₂ that is estimated from the instrumental temperature record using statistical techniques consistent with the transient climate response, the equilibrium climate sensitivity, or the effective climate sensitivity. Here, we attempt to answer the question, what do statistical analyses of the observational record measure, by using these same statistical techniques to estimate the temperature effect of a doubling in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide from seventeen simulations run for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 2 (CMIP2). The results indicate that the temperature effect estimated by the statistical methodology is consistent with the transient climate response and that this consistency is relatively unaffected by sample size or the increase in radiative forcing in the sample.     

Relative roles of climate sensitivity and forcing in defining the ocean circulation response to climate change

The response of the ocean’s meridional overturning circulation (MOC) to increased greenhouse gas forcing is examined using a coupled model of intermediate complexity, including a dynamic 3-D ocean subcomponent. Parameters are the increase in CO₂ forcing (with stabilization after a specified time interval) and the model’s climate sensitivity. In this model, the cessation of deep sinking in the north “Atlantic” (hereinafter, a “collapse”), as indicated by changes in the MOC, behaves like a simple bifurcation. The final surface air temperature (SAT) change, which is closely predicted by the product of the radiative forcing and the climate sensitivity, determines whether a collapse occurs. The initial transient response in SAT is largely a function of the forcing increase, with higher sensitivity runs exhibiting delayed behavior; accordingly, high CO₂-low sensitivity scenarios can be assessed as a recovering or collapsing circulation shortly after stabilization, whereas low CO₂-high sensitivity scenarios require several hundred additional years to make such a determination. We also systemically examine how the rate of forcing, for a given CO₂ stabilization, affects the ocean response. In contrast with previous studies based on results using simpler ocean models, we find that except for a narrow range of marginally stable to marginally unstable scenarios, the forcing rate has little impact on whether the run collapses or recovers. In this narrow range, however, forcing increases on a time scale of slow ocean advective processes results in weaker declines in overturning strength and can permit a run to recover that would otherwise collapse.     

Internal Variability as a Cause of Qualitative Intermodel Disagreement on Anthropogenic Climate Changes

Summary The qualitative agreement of two climate models, HADCM2 and ECHAM3, on the response of surface climate to anthropogenic climate forcing in the period 2020 – 2049 is studied. Special attention is paid to the role of internal climate variability as a source of intermodel disagreement. After illustrating the methods in an intermodel comparison of simulated changes in June–August mean precipitation, some global statistics are presented. Excluding surface air temperature, the four-season mean proportion of areas in which the two models agree on the sign of the climatic response is only 53 – 60% both for increases in CO₂ alone and for increases in CO₂ together with direct radiative forcing by sulphate aerosols, but somewhat larger, 59 – 70% for the separate aerosol effect. In areas where the response is strong (at least twice the standard error associated with internal variability) in both models, the agreement is better and the contrast between the different forcings becomes more marked. The proportion of agreement in such areas is 57 – 75% for the response to increases in CO₂ alone, 64 – 84% for the response to combined CO₂ and aerosol forcing, and as high as 88 – 94% for the separate aerosol effect. The relatively good intermodel agreement for aerosol-induced climate changes is suggested to be associated with the uneven horizontal distribution of aerosol forcing. Received December 2, 1998 Revised May 5, 1999     

The contribution of timescales to the temperature response of climate models

Both the magnitude and timescale of climate change in response to anthropogenic forcing are important consideration in climate change decision making. Using a familiar, yet simple global energy balance model combined with a novel method for estimating the amount of gain in the global surface temperature response to radiative forcing associated with timescales in the range 10⁰?C10³?years we show that the introduction of large-scale circulation such as meridional overturning leads to the emergence of discrete gain?Ctimescale relationships in the dynamics of this model. This same feature is found in the response of both an intermediate complexity and two atmosphere?Cocean general circulation models run to equilibrium. As a result of this emergent property of climate models, it is possible to offer credible partitioning of the full equilibrium gain of these models, and hence their equilibrium climate sensitivity, between two discrete timescales; one decadal associated with near surface ocean heat equilibration; and one centennial associated with deep ocean heat equilibration. Timescales of approximately 20 and 700?years with a 60:40 partitioning of the equilibrium gain are found for the models analysed here. A re-analysis of the emulation results of 19 AOGCMs presented by Meinshausen et al. (Atmos Chem Phys Discuss 8:6153?C6272, 2008) indicates timescales of 20 and 580?years with an approximate 50:50 partition of the equilibrium gain between the two. This suggests near equal importance of both short and long timescales in determining equilibrium climate sensitivity.     

Non-linear climate feedback analysis in an atmospheric general circulation model

 A method is described for evaluating the ‘partial derivatives’ of globally averaged top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiation changes with respect to basic climate model physical parameters. This method is used to analyse feedbacks in the Australian Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre general circulation model. The parameters considered are surface temperature, water vapour, lapse rate and cloud cover. The climate forcing which produces the changes is a globally uniform sea surface temperature (SST) perturbation. The first and second order differentials of model parameters with respect to the forcing (i.e. SST changes) are estimated from quadratic least square fitting. Except for total cloud cover, variables are found to be strong functions of global SST. Strongly non-linear variations of lapse rate and high cloud amount and height appear to relate to the non-linear response in penetrative convection. Globally averaged TOA radiation differentials with respect to model parameters are also evaluated. With the exception of total cloud contributions, a high correlation is generally found to exist, on the global mean level, between TOA radiation and the respective parameter perturbations. The largest non-linear terms contributing to radiative changes are those due to lapse rate and high cloud. The contributions of linear and non-linear terms to the overall radiative response from a 4 K SST perturbation are assessed. Significant non-linear responses are found to be associated with lapse rate, water vapour and cloud changes. Although the exact magnitude of these responses is likely to be a function of the particular model as well as the imposed SST perturbation pattern, the present experiments flag these as processes which cannot properly be understood from linear theory in the evaluation of climate change sensitivity. Received: 16 January 1997/Accepted: 9 May 1997     

Observational estimate of climate sensitivity from changes in the rate of ocean heat uptake and comparison to CMIP5 models

Climate sensitivity is estimated based on 0–2,000 m ocean heat content and surface temperature observations from the second half of the 20th century and first decade of the 21st century, using a simple energy balance model and the change in the rate of ocean heat uptake to determine the radiative restoration strength over this time period. The relationship between this 30–50 year radiative restoration strength and longer term effective sensitivity is investigated using an ensemble of 32 model configurations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5), suggesting a strong correlation between the two. The mean radiative restoration strength over this period for the CMIP5 members examined is 1.16 Wm^?2K^?1, compared to 2.05 Wm^?2K^?1 from the observations. This suggests that temperature in these CMIP5 models may be too sensitive to perturbations in radiative forcing, although this depends on the actual magnitude of the anthropogenic aerosol forcing in the modern period. The potential change in the radiative restoration strength over longer timescales is also considered, resulting in a likely (67 %) range of 1.5–2.9 K for equilibrium climate sensitivity, and a 90 % confidence interval of 1.2–5.1 K.     

平流层气溶胶的辐射强迫及其气候响应的水平二维分析

利用比较先进的辐射模式计算了平流层气溶胶的辐射强迫,并对之进行了参数化。结果发现平流层气溶胶的辐射强迫的水平分布不仅与其本身的水平变化有关,而且与下垫面的反照率有很大的关系。利用近期开发的二维能量平衡模式模拟了皮纳图博火山气溶胶对地面平衡温度的影响,结果表明:皮纳图博火山至喷发后1年半左右降温达最大,至喷发后第5年降温已很小。     

Inferring climate sensitivity from volcanic events

The possibility of estimating the equilibrium climate sensitivity of the earth-system from observations following explosive volcanic eruptions is assessed in the context of a perfect model study. Two modern climate models (the CCCma CGCM3 and the NCAR CCSM2) with different equilibrium climate sensitivities are employed in the investigation. The models are perturbed with the same transient volcano-like forcing and the responses analysed to infer climate sensitivities. For volcano-like forcing the global mean surface temperature responses of the two models are very similar, despite their differing equilibrium climate sensitivities, indicating that climate sensitivity cannot be inferred from the temperature record alone even if the forcing is known. Equilibrium climate sensitivities can be reasonably determined only if both the forcing and the change in heat storage in the system are known very accurately. The geographic patterns of clear-sky atmosphere/surface and cloud feedbacks are similar for both the transient volcano-like and near-equilibrium constant forcing simulations showing that, to a considerable extent, the same feedback processes are invoked, and determine the climate sensitivity, in both cases.     

On the interpretation of inter-model spread in CMIP5 climate sensitivity estimates

This study diagnoses the climate sensitivity, radiative forcing and climate feedback estimates from eleven general circulation models participating in the Fifth Phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5), and analyzes inter-model differences. This is done by taking into account the fact that the climate response to increased carbon dioxide (CO₂) is not necessarily only mediated by surface temperature changes, but can also result from fast land warming and tropospheric adjustments to the CO₂ radiative forcing. By considering tropospheric adjustments to CO₂ as part of the forcing rather than as feedbacks, and by using the radiative kernels approach, we decompose climate sensitivity estimates in terms of feedbacks and adjustments associated with water vapor, temperature lapse rate, surface albedo and clouds. Cloud adjustment to CO₂ is, with one exception, generally positive, and is associated with a reduced strength of the cloud feedback; the multi-model mean cloud feedback is about 33 % weaker. Non-cloud adjustments associated with temperature, water vapor and albedo seem, however, to be better understood as responses to land surface warming. Separating out the tropospheric adjustments does not significantly affect the spread in climate sensitivity estimates, which primarily results from differing climate feedbacks. About 70 % of the spread stems from the cloud feedback, which remains the major source of inter-model spread in climate sensitivity, with a large contribution from the tropics. Differences in tropical cloud feedbacks between low-sensitivity and high-sensitivity models occur over a large range of dynamical regimes, but primarily arise from the regimes associated with a predominance of shallow cumulus and stratocumulus clouds. The combined water vapor plus lapse rate feedback also contributes to the spread of climate sensitivity estimates, with inter-model differences arising primarily from the relative humidity responses throughout the troposphere. Finally, this study points to a substantial role of nonlinearities in the calculation of adjustments and feedbacks for the interpretation of inter-model spread in climate sensitivity estimates. We show that in climate model simulations with large forcing (e.g., 4 × CO₂), nonlinearities cannot be assumed minor nor neglected. Having said that, most results presented here are consistent with a number of previous feedback studies, despite the very different nature of the methodologies and all the uncertainties associated with them.     

Volcanic and solar impacts on climate since 1700

 Numerical experiments have been carried out with a two-dimensional sector averaged global climate model with a detailed radiative scheme in order to assess the possible impact of solar and volcanic activities on the Earth’s surface temperature at the secular time scale from 1700 to 1992. Our results indicate that while the general trend of the observed temperature variations on the century time scale can be generated in response to both the solar and volcanic forcings, these are clearly not sufficient to explain the observed 20th century warming and more specifically the warming trend which started at the beginning of the 1970s. However, the lack of volcanism during the period 1925–1960 could account, at least partly, for the observed warming trend in this period. Finally, while Schlesinger and Ramankutty (1994) assumed that random forcing could not be a possible source of the 65–70 year oscillation they detected in the global climate system, our results indicate that the volcanic forcing over the past 150 years could have introduced an oscillation of around 70 years in the Earth’s surface temperature. Received: 25 August 1997/Accepted: 27 November 1998     

Dangerous anthropogenic interference, dangerous climatic change, and harmful climatic change: non-trivial distinctions with significant policy implications

Article 2 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) calls for stabilization of greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations at levels that prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference (DAI) in the climate system. However, some of the recent policy literature has focused on dangerous climatic change (DCC) rather than on DAI. DAI is a set of increases in GHGs concentrations that has a non-negligible possibility of provoking changes in climate that in turn have a non-negligible possibility of causing unacceptable harm, including harm to one or more of ecosystems, food production systems, and sustainable socio-economic systems, whereas DCC is a change of climate that has actually occurred or is assumed to occur and that has a non-negligible possibility of causing unacceptable harm. If the goal of climate policy is to prevent DAI, then the determination of allowable GHG concentrations requires three inputs: the probability distribution function (pdf) for climate sensitivity, the pdf for the temperature change at which significant harm occurs, and the allowed probability (“risk”) of incurring harm previously deemed to be unacceptable. If the goal of climate policy is to prevent DCC, then one must know what the correct climate sensitivity is (along with the harm pdf and risk tolerance) in order to determine allowable GHG concentrations. DAI from elevated atmospheric CO₂ also arises through its impact on ocean chemistry as the ocean absorbs CO₂. The primary chemical impact is a reduction in the degree of supersaturation of ocean water with respect to calcium carbonate, the structural building material for coral and for calcareous phytoplankton at the base of the marine food chain. Here, the probability of significant harm (in particular, impacts violating the subsidiary conditions in Article 2 of the UNFCCC) is computed as a function of the ratio of total GHG radiative forcing to the radiative forcing for a CO₂ doubling, using two alternative pdfs for climate sensitivity and three alternative pdfs for the harm temperature threshold. The allowable radiative forcing ratio depends on the probability of significant harm that is tolerated, and can be translated into allowable CO₂ concentrations given some assumption concerning the future change in total non-CO₂ GHG radiative forcing. If future non-CO₂ GHG forcing is reduced to half of the present non-CO₂ GHG forcing, then the allowable CO₂ concentration is 290–430 ppmv for a 10% risk tolerance (depending on the chosen pdfs) and 300–500 ppmv for a 25% risk tolerance (assuming a pre-industrial CO₂ concentration of 280 ppmv). For future non-CO₂ GHG forcing frozen at the present value, and for a 10% risk threshold, the allowable CO₂ concentration is 257–384 ppmv. The implications of these results are that (1) emissions of GHGs need to be reduced as quickly as possible, not in order to comply with the UNFCCC, but in order to minimize the extent and duration of non-compliance; (2) we do not have the luxury of trading off reductions in emissions of non-CO₂ GHGs against smaller reductions in CO₂ emissions, and (3) preparations should begin soon for the creation of negative CO₂ emissions through the sequestration of biomass carbon.     

Adjusted radiative forcing and global radiative feedbacks in CNRM-CM5, a closure of the partial decomposition

This study provides a comprehensive global analysis of the climate radiative feedbacks and the adjusted radiative forcing for a CO₂ increase perturbation in the CNRM-CM5 climate model using the partial radiative perturbations (PRP) method. Some methodological key points of the PRP are investigated, with a particular focus on the consideration of the effect of fast adjustments. First, the standard PRP method is applied by neglecting certain fast adjustments. The effect of the field decorrelation is highlighted by performing a PRP across two different periods of a control experiment and by analyzing second-order terms. Sensitivity tests to the field substitution frequency, the sampling period and the perturbed experiment used are performed. The impact of the definition of the top of the climate system (top-of-the-atmosphere or tropopause) in the feedback estimate is also discussed. Secondly, the fast adjustment processes are taken into account by combining the PRP framework with the method of linear regression of the partial net radiative flux change against the mean surface air temperature change using a step forcing experiment. This method allows us to quantify the contribution of the different constituents to the forcing adjustment and to improve the estimation of the radiative feedbacks. It is shown that such decomposition allows the retrieval of the adjusted radiative forcing, the radiative feedbacks and the climate sensitivity as estimated with the linear regression method with a high level of accuracy, validating the partial decomposition.     

The impact of natural and anthropogenic forcings on climate and hydrology since 1550

A climate simulation of an ocean/atmosphere general circulation model driven with natural forcings alone (constant “pre-industrial” land-cover and well-mixed greenhouse gases, changing orbital, solar and volcanic forcing) has been carried out from 1492 to 2000. Another simulation driven with natural and anthropogenic forcings (changes in greenhouse gases, ozone, the direct and first indirect effect of anthropogenic sulphate aerosol and land-cover) from 1750 to 2000 has also been carried out. These simulations suggest that since 1550, in the absence of anthropogenic forcings, climate would have warmed by about 0.1 K. Simulated response is not in equilibrium with the external forcings suggesting that both climate sensitivity and the rate at which the ocean takes up heat determine the magnitude of the response to forcings since 1550. In the simulation with natural forcings climate sensitivity is similar to other simulations of HadCM3 driven with CO₂ alone. Climate sensitivity increases when anthropogenic forcings are included. The natural forcing used in our experiment increases decadal–centennial time-scale and large spatial scale climate variability, relative to internal variability, as diagnosed from a control simulation. Mean conditions in the natural simulation are cooler than in our control simulation reflecting the reduction in forcing. However, over certain regions there is significant warming, relative to control, due to an increase in forest cover. Comparing the simulation driven by anthropogenic and natural forcings with the natural-only simulation suggests that anthropogenic forcings have had a significant impact on, particularly tropical, climate since the early nineteenth century. Thus the entire instrumental temperature record may be “contaminated” by anthropogenic influences. Both the hydrological cycle and cryosphere are also affected by anthropogenic forcings. Changes in tree-cover appear to be responsible for some of the local and hydrological changes as well as an increase in northern hemisphere spring snow cover.

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Climate effect of ozone changes caused by present and future air traffic

 The potential of aircraft-induced ozone changes to force a substantial climate impact is investigated by means of simulations with an atmospheric general circulation model, coupled to a mixed layer ocean model. We present results from several numerical experiments that are based on ozone change patterns for 1992 aviation and on a future scenario for the year 2015. In both cases, the climate signal is statistically significant. The strength of the ozone impact is of comparable magnitude to that arising from aircraft CO₂ emissions, thus meaning a non-negligible contribution to the total climate effect of aviation emissions. There are indications of a characteristic signature of the aircraft ozone related temperature response pattern, distinctly different from that associated with the increase of well-mixed greenhouse gases. Likewise, the climate sensitivity to non-uniform ozone changes including a strong concentration perturbation at the tropopause may be higher than the climate sensitivity to uniform changes of a greenhouse gas. In a hierarchy of experiments, for which the spatial structure of an aircraft-related ozone perturbation was left fixed, while the amplitude of the perturbation was artificially increased, the climate signal depends in a non-linear way on the radiative forcing. Received: 10 September 1998 / Accepted: 4 May 1999     

Planetary albedo in strongly forced climate, as simulated by the CMIP3 models

In an ensemble of general circulation models, the global mean albedo significantly decreases in response to strong CO₂ forcing. In some of the models, the magnitude of this positive feedback is as large as the CO₂ forcing itself. The models agree well on the surface contribution to the trend, due to retreating snow and ice cover, but display large differences when it comes to the contribution from shortwave radiative effects of clouds. The ??cloud contribution?? defined as the difference between clear-sky and all-sky albedo anomalies and denoted as ??CC is correlated with equilibrium climate sensitivity in the models (correlation coefficient 0.76), indicating that in high sensitivity models the clouds to a greater extent act to enhance the negative clear-sky albedo trend, whereas in low sensitivity models the clouds rather counteract this trend. As a consequence, the total albedo trend is more negative in more sensitive models (correlation coefficient 0.73). This illustrates in a new way the importance of cloud response to global warming in determining climate sensitivity in models. The cloud contribution to the albedo trend can primarily be ascribed to changes in total cloud fraction, but changes in cloud albedo may also be of importance.