Possible Impacts of Climate Change on Soil Moisture Availability in the Southeast Anatolia Development Project Region (GAP): An Analysis from an Agricultural Drought Perspective

This paper presents probable effects of climate change on soil moisture availability in the Southeast Anatolia Development Project (GAP) region of Turkey. A series of hypothetical climate change scenarios and GCM-generated IPCC Business-as-Usual scenario estimates of temperature and precipitation changes were used to examine implications of climate change for seasonal changes in actual evapotranspiration, soil moisture deficit, and soil moisture surplus in 13 subregions of the GAP. Of particular importance are predicted patterns of enhancement in summer soil moisture deficit that are consistent across the region in all scenarios. Least effect of the projected warming on the soil moisture deficit enhancement is observed with the IPCC estimates. The projected temperature changes would be responsible for a great portion of the enhancement in summer deficits in the GAP region. The increase in precipitation had less effect on depletion rate of soil moisture when the temperatures increase. Particularly southern and southeastern parts of the region will suffer severe moisture shortages during summer. Winter surplus decreased in scenarios with increased temperature and decreased precipitation in most cases. Even when precipitation was not changed, total annual surplus decreased by 4 percent to 43 percent for a 2°C warming and by 8 percent to 91 percent for a 4°C warming. These hydrologic results may have significant implications for water availability in the GAP as the present project evaluations lack climate change analysis. Adaptation strategies – such as changes in crop varieties, applying more advanced dry farming methods, improved water management, developing more efficient irrigation systems, and changes in planting – will be important in limiting adverse effects and taking advantage of beneficial changes in climate.     

Predicted Effects of Climatic Change on Distribution of Ecologically Important Native Tree and Shrub Species in Florida

A previously developed plant species-climatic envelope model was evaluated further and used to predict effects of hypothesized climatic change on the potential distribution of 124 native woody plant species in Florida, U.S.A. Twelve scenarios were investigated. These included mean annual temperature increases of 1 °C or 2 °C, achieved either by equal 1 °C or 2 °C increases on a monthly basis throughout the year, or by disproportionately larger seasonal increases in winter and smaller ones in summer. The various temperature increases were then combined with each of several precipitation changes, ranging from +10% to –20%, to produce the final set of scenarios. More detailed analysis involving six of the scenarios and a subset of 28 representative, ecologically important species suggested that (1) large decreases in the Florida range of many temperate species would result if 1 °C warming occurs predominantly in winter or with a 20% decrease in annual precipitation, or (2) if 2 °C warming occurs, with or without decrease in annual precipitation, and regardless of whether there is a uniform monthly warming pattern or one that is higher in winter than in summer. Available information concerning other factors that might also affect climatic-change responses suggests that these large predicted impacts on temperate Florida species may be underestimates. Subtropical Florida species will tend to move north and inland with warming but extensive human assistance may be needed, if they are to realize their newly expanded, potential natural ranges.     

Expected changes in future agro-climatological conditions in Northeast Thailand and their differences between general circulation models

We have studied future changes in the atmospheric and hydrological environments in Northeast Thailand from the viewpoint of risk assessment of future cultural environments in crop fields. To obtain robust and reliable estimation for future climate, ten general circulation models under three warming scenarios, B1, A1B, and A2, were used in this study. The obtained change trends show that daily maximum air temperature and precipitation will increase by 2.6°C and 4.0%, respectively, whereas soil moisture will decrease by c.a. 1% point in volumetric water content at the end of this century under the A1B scenario. Seasonal contrasts in precipitation will intensify: precipitation increases in the rainy season and precipitation decreases in the dry season. Soil moisture will slightly decrease almost throughout the year. Despite a homogeneous increase in the air temperature over Northeast Thailand, a future decrease in soil water content will show a geographically inhomogeneous distribution: Soil will experience a relative larger decrease in wetness at a shallow depth on the Khorat plateau than in the surrounding mountainous area, reflecting vegetation cover and soil texture. The predicted increase in air temperature is relatively consistent between general circulation models. In contrast, relatively large intermodel differences in precipitation, especially in long-term trends, produce unwanted bias errors in the estimation of other hydrological elements, such as soil moisture and evaporation, and cause uncertainties in projection of the agro-climatological environment. Offline hydrological simulation with a wide precipitation range is one strategy to compensate for such uncertainties and to obtain reliable risk assessment of future cultural conditions in rainfed paddy fields in Northeast Thailand.     

An Amplified Signal of Climatic Change in Soil Temperatures during the Last Century at Irkutsk, Russia

Climatic changes at the Earth's surface propagate slowly downward into theground and modify the ambient ground thermal regime. However, causes of soiltemperature changes in the upper few meters are not well documented. One majorobstacle to understanding the linkage between the soil thermal regime andclimatic change is the lack of long-term observations of soil temperatures andrelated climatic variables. Such measurements were made throughout the formerSoviet Union with some records beginning at the end of the 19th century. Inthis paper, we use records from Irkutsk, Russia, to demonstrate how the soiltemperature responded to climatic changes over the last century. Both airtemperature and precipitation at Irkutsk increased from the late 1890s to the1990s. Changes in air temperature mainly occurred in winter, while changes inprecipitation happened mainly during summer. There was an anti-correlationbetween mean annual air temperature and annual total precipitation, i.e., more(less) precipitation during cold (warm) years. There were no significanttrends of changes in the first day of snow on the ground in autumn, but snowsteadily disappeared earlier in spring, resulting in a reduction of the snowcover duration. A grass-covered soil experiences seasonal freezing for morethan nine months each year and the long-term average maximum depth ofseasonally frozen soils was about 177 cm with a range from 91 cm to 260 cm.The relatively lower soil temperature at shallow depths appears to representthe so-called `thermal offset' in seasonally frozen soils. Changes in meanannual air temperature and soil temperature at 40 cm depth were about the samemagnitude (2.0 °C to 2.5 °C) over the common period of record, but thepatterns of change were substantially different. Mean annual air temperatureincreased slightly until the 1960s, while mean annual soil temperatureincreased steadily throughout the entire period. This leads to the conclusionthat changes in air temperature alone cannot explain the changes in soiltemperatures at this station. Soil temperature actually decreased duringsummer months by up to 4 °C, while air temperature increased slightly.This cooling in the soil may be explained by changes in rainfall and hencesoil moisture during summer due to the effect of a soil moisture feedbackmechanism. While air temperature increased about 4 °C to 6 °C duringwinter, soil temperature increased by up to 9 °C. An increase in snowfallduring early winter (October and November) and early snowmelt in spring mayplay a major role in the increase of soil temperatures through the effects ofinsulation and albedo changes. Due to its relatively higher thermalconductivity compared to unfrozen soils, seasonally frozen ground may enhancethe soil cooling, especially in autumn and winter when thermal gradient isnegative.     

Potential effects of climate change on a semi-permanent prairie wetland

We assessed the potential effects of a greenhouse gas-induced global climate change on the hydrology and vegetation of a semi-permanent prairie wetland using a spatially-defined, rule-based simulation model. An 11-yr simulation was run using current versus enhanced greenhouse gas climates. Projections of climatic change were from the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) general circulation model. Simulations were also run using a range of temperature (+2 and +4 °C) and precipitation change values (–20, –10, 0, +10, +20%) to determine the responsiveness of wetland vegetation and hydrology to a variety of climate scenarios.Maximum water depths were significantly less under the enhanced greenhouse gas scenario than under the current climate. The wetland dried in most years with increased temperature and changes in precipitation. Simulations also revealed a significant change in the vegetation, from a nearly balanced emergent cover to open water ratio to a completely closed basin with no open water areas. Simulations over a range of climate change scenarios showed that precipitation changes (particularly increases) had a greater impact on water levels and cover ratios when the temperature increase was moderate (+2 °C).These potential changes in wetland hydrology and vegetation could result in a dramatic decline in the quality of habitat for breeding birds, particularly waterfowl. Continued research on climate and wetland modeling is needed.     

植被覆盖异常变化影响陆面状况的数值模拟

利用NCAR最新的公用陆面模式CLM3．0，通过数值模拟初步研究了植被叶面积指数（LAI，leafareaindex）异常变化对陆面状况的可能影响，结果表明，植被LAI的异常变化能够引起地表能量平衡、地表水循环等陆面状况的异常。（1）植被LAI的异常变化主要影响太阳辐射在植被与地表之间的分配，以及地表的感热、潜热通量。植被LAI增大，能够引起植被吸收的太阳辐射增加，而到达土壤表面的太阳辐射减小，并导致植被的蒸发、蒸腾潜热通量增加，造成地表的蒸发潜热和感热通量不同程度的减小。（2）植被LAI增大时，植被对降水的拦截和植被叶面的蒸发增大，植被的蒸腾作用也明显增强；植被LAI增加会使得热带地区各个季节的土壤表面蒸发、地表径流减小，而土壤湿度有所增加；LAI增加造成中高纬度地区土壤蒸发的减少主要出现在夏季；LAI增加还能够引起中高纬地区冬、春积雪深度不同程度的增加，造成春末、夏初地表径流的增加。（3）植被LAI增加能够使得叶面和土壤温度有所下降，但植被LAI的变化对叶面、土壤温度的影响相对较小。     

Preparing for Climatic Change: The Water, Salmon, and Forests of the Pacific Northwest

The impacts of year-to-year and decade-to-decade climatic variations on some of the Pacific Northwest's key natural resources can be quantified to estimate sensitivity to regional climatic changes expected as part of anthropogenic global climatic change. Warmer, drier years, often associated with El Niño events and/or the warm phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, tend to be associated with below-average snowpack, streamflow, and flood risk, below-average salmon survival, below-average forest growth, and above-average risk of forest fire. During the 20th century, the region experienced a warming of 0.8 °C. Using output from eight climate models, we project a further warming of 0.5–2.5 °C (central estimate 1.5 °C) by the 2020s, 1.5–3.2°C (2.3 °C) by the 2040s, and an increase in precipitation except in summer. The foremost impact of a warming climate will be the reduction of regional snowpack, which presently supplies water for ecosystems and human uses during the dry summers. Our understanding of past climate also illustrates the responses of human management systems to climatic stresses, and suggests that a warming of the rate projected would pose significant challenges to the management of natural resources. Resource managers and planners currently have few plans for adapting to or mitigating the ecological and economic effects of climatic change.     

Sensitivity of the Himalayan Hydrology to Land-Use and Climatic Changes

Land-use and climatic changes are ofmajor concerns in the Himalayan region because oftheir potential impacts on a predominantlyagriculture-based economy and a regional hydrologydominated by the monsoons. Such concerns are notlimited to any particular basin but exist throughoutthe region including the downstream plains. As arepresentative basin of the Himalayas, the Kosi Basin(54,000 km²) located in the mountainous area ofthe central Himalayan region was selected as a studyarea. We used water balance and distributeddeterministic modeling approaches to analyze thehydrologic sensitivity of the basin to projectedland-use, and potential climate change scenarios.Runoff increase was higher than precipitation increasein all the potential precipitation change scenariosapplying contemporary temperature. The scenario ofcontemporary precipitation and a rise in temperatureof 4 °C caused a decrease in runoff bytwo to eight percent depending upon the areasconsidered and models used. In the absence of climaticchange, the results from a distributed water balancemodel applied in the humid south of the basinindicated a reduction in runoff by 1.3% in thescenario of maximum increase in forest areas below4,000 m.     

Lake ice records used to detect historical and future climatic changes

Historical ice records, such as freeze and breakup dates and the total duration of ice cover, can be used as a quantitative indicator of climatic change if long homogeneous records exist and if the records can be calibrated in terms of climatic changes. Lake Mendota, Wisconsin, has the longest uninterrupted ice records available for any lake in North America dating back to 1855. These records extend back prior to any reliable air temperature data in the midwestern region of the U.S. and demonstrate significant warming of approximately 1.5 °C in fall and early winter temperatures and 2.5 °C in winter and spring temperatures during the past 135 years. These changes are not completely monotonie, but rather appear as two shorter periods of climatic change in the longer record. The first change was between 1875 and 1890, when fall, winter, and spring air temperatures increased by approximately 1.5 °C. The second change, earlier ice breakup dates since 1979, was caused by a significant increase in winter and early spring air temperatures of approximately 1.3 °C. This change may be indicative of shifts in regional climatic patterns associated with global warming, possibly associated with the Greenhouse Effect.With the relationships between air temperature and freeze and break up dates, we can project how the ice cover of Lake Mendota should respond to future climatic changes. If warming occurs, the ice cover for Lake Mendota should decrease approximately 11 days per 1 °C increase. With a warming of 4 to 5 °C, years with no ice cover should occur in approximately 1 out of 15 to 30 years.     

Mean, interannual variability and trends in a regional climate change experiment over Europe. II: climate change scenarios (2071–2100)

We present an analysis of climate change over Europe as simulated by a regional climate model (RCM) nested within time-slice atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) experiments. Changes in mean and interannual variability are discussed for the 30-year period of 2071–2100 with respect to the present day period of 1961–1990 under forcing from the A2 and B2 IPCC emission scenarios. In both scenarios, the European region undergoes substantial warming in all seasons, in the range of 1–5.5°C, with the warming being 1–2°C lower in the B2 than in the A2 scenario. The spatial patterns of warming are similar in the two scenarios, with a maximum over eastern Europe in winter and over western and southern Europe in summer. The precipitation changes in the two scenarios also show similar spatial patterns. In winter, precipitation increases over most of Europe (except for the southern Mediterranean regions) due to increased storm activity and higher atmospheric water vapor loadings. In summer, a decrease in precipitation is found over most of western and southern Europe in response to a blocking-like anticyclonic circulation over the northeastern Atlantic which deflects summer storms northward. The precipitation changes in the intermediate seasons (spring and fall) are less pronounced than in winter and summer. Overall, the intensity of daily precipitation events predominantly increases, often also in regions where the mean precipitation decreases. Conversely the number of wet days decreases (leading to longer dry periods) except in the winter over western and central Europe. Cloudiness, snow cover and soil water content show predominant decreases, in many cases also in regions where precipitation increases. Interannual variability of both temperature and precipitation increases substantially in the summer and shows only small changes in the other seasons. A number of statistically significant regional trends are found throughout the scenario simulations, especially for temperature and for the A2 scenario. The results from the forcing AGCM simulations and the nested RCM simulations are generally consistent with each other at the broad scale. However, significant differences in the simulated surface climate changes are found between the two models in the summer, when local physics processes are more important. In addition, substantial fine scale detail in the RCM-produced change signal is found in response to local topographical and coastline features.     

European climate in the late twenty-first century: regional simulations with two driving global models and two forcing scenarios

A basic analysis is presented for a series of regional climate change simulations that were conducted by the Swedish Rossby Centre and contribute to the PRUDENCE (Prediction of Regional scenarios and Uncertainties for Defining EuropeaN Climate change risks and Effects) project. For each of the two driving global models HadAM3H and ECHAM4/OPYC3, a 30-year control run and two 30-year scenario runs (based on the SRES A2 and B2 emission scenarios) were made with the regional model. In this way, four realizations of climate change from 1961–1990 to 2071–2100 were obtained. The simulated changes are larger for the A2 than the B2 scenario (although with few qualitative differences) and in most cases in the ECHAM4/OPYC3-driven (RE) than in the HadAM3H-driven (RH) regional simulations. In all the scenario runs, the warming in northern Europe is largest in winter or late autumn. In central and southern Europe, the warming peaks in summer when it locally reaches 10 °C in the RE-A2 simulation and 6–7 °C in the RH-A2 and RE-B2 simulations. The four simulations agree on a general increase in precipitation in northern Europe especially in winter and on a general decrease in precipitation in southern and central Europe in summer, but the magnitude and the geographical patterns of the change differ markedly between RH and RE. This reflects very different changes in the atmospheric circulation during the winter half-year, which also lead to quite different simulated changes in windiness. All four simulations show a large increase in the lowest minimum temperatures in northern, central and eastern Europe, most likely due to reduced snow cover. Extreme daily precipitation increases even in most of those areas where the mean annual precipitation decreases.     

青藏高原腹地多年冻土区活动层水热过程对气候变化的响应

活动层作为多年冻土与大气系统之间能量和水分交换通道,其内部的水热状况是控制水循环和地表能量平衡的主要因素,并直接影响着寒区生态环境、水文过程以及多年冻土的稳定性.利用一维水热耦合模型CoupModel,对青藏高原风火山试验点活动层土壤剖面温湿度进行了模拟.模拟效率参数表明模拟结果很好地反映了研究区多年冻土活动层水热状况...     

Annual and seasonal climate and climatic changes in the Canadian prairies simulated by the CCC GCM

Abstract

As part of a study on the effects of climatic variability and change on the sustainability of agriculture in Alberto, the modelling performance of the second‐generation Canadian Climate Centre GCM (general circulation model) is examined. For the region in general, the simulation of 1 × CO₂ mean temperature is generally better than that for mean precipitation, and summer is the season best modelled for each variable. At the scale of individual grid squares, DJF (December, January, February) (temperature) and JJA (June, July, August) (precipitation) are the seasons best modelled. The GCM‐simulated increases in mean annual temperature resulting from a doubling of CO₂ are of the order of 5 to 6°C in the Prairie region, with much of this increase resulting from substantial warming in the winter and spring. Increases in mean annual precipitation are of the order of 50 to 150 mm (changes of +5 to +15%), with the greatest changes again occurring in winter and spring. As far as the limited GCM run durations allow, temperature and precipitation variance generally show no significant changes from a 1 × CO₂ to a 2 × CO₂ climate. Increased precipitation in winter and spring does not result in greater snow accumulations owing to the magnitude of warming; and significant decreases in soil moisture content occur in summer and fall. The resulting effects on the growing season and moisture regime have the potential to affect agricultural practices in the area.     

A Modeling Study of Climatic Change and Its Implication for Agriculture in C

The trends and features of China’s climatic change in the past and future are analysed by applying station obser-vations and GCM simulation results. Nationally, the country has warmed by 0.3oC in annual mean air temperature and decreased by 5% in annual precipitation over 1951-1990. Regionally, temperature change has varied from a cooling of 0.3oC in Southwest China to a warming of 1.0oC in Northeast China. With the exception of South China, all regions of China have shown a declination in precipitation. Climatic change has the features of increasing remark-ably in winter temperature and decreasing obviously in summer precipitation. Under doubled CO2 concentration, climatic change in China will tend to be warmer and moister, with increases of 4.5oC in annual mean air temperature and 11% in annual precipitation on the national scale. Future climatic change will reduce the temporal and spatial differences of climatic factors.     

温室效应引起的东亚区域气候变化

用中国科学院大气物理研究所的两层大气和二十层大洋环流模式耦合的海气模式进行了控制试验和瞬变响应试验两个长期积分,并用它们的差异来分析大气中二氧化碳含量加倍所引起的东亚区域的气候变化。二氧化碳加倍以后,东亚年平均温度升高,降水增加,土壤湿度也是增加的,但存在着显著的季节性和区域性的差异。因此,又把东亚分成８个区,来详细探讨二氧化碳增加所引起的区域气候变化。选取了３个具有代表性的气候量：温度、降水和土壤湿度。二氧化碳加倍以后,温度的增加和土壤湿度的增加主要出现在冬半年的高纬度,降水增加的最大值也出现在冬半年的高纬度。另外,还初步分析了二氧化碳浓度加倍所引起的温度和降水年际变率的变化     

Impacts of carbon dioxide warming on climate and man in the semi-arid tropics

Tropical semi-arid climates occur between 10 and 35 deg latitude and are characterised by highly variable summer rainfall of between 300 and 750 mm in a rainy season of at least 4 months, generally adequate for rainfed cropping but with considerable drought risk. They support a mesic savanna vegetation. They have a land extent of 4.5 million km², mainly occupied by Third World nations with rapidly increasing populations which in the main are predominantly rural and largely agricultural with low per capita incomes, consequently vulnerable to climate change. A doubling of atmospheric CO₂ by the year 2030 is predicted to cause a rise in equilibrium mean temperature of 1–3 °C; however there is continuing uncertainty regarding the consequences for rainfall amount, variability and intensity, length of rainy season or the frequency of extreme rainfall events. Two scenarios are considered, with reduction and increase in rainfall respectively, involving corresponding latitudinal shifts in present climatic boundaries of about 200 km. Because of their variability, a clear signal of the greenhouse effect on these climates may be delayed, whilst regional responses may differ. Vegetational and hydrological responses under the alternative scenarios are considered. The possible consequences for rainfed and irrigated agriculture, water and energy supplies and disease and pest ecology are discussed. Lands of the semi-arid tropics are already extensively desertified, with consequent lowered productivity and heightened vulnerability to drought, and the possible impacts of greenhouse warming on desertification processes and on measures for land rehabilition to the year 2030 are reviewed. Measures to conserve the biological diversity of savanna lands in face of greenhouse warming are discussed.     

Climate change in the 21st century simulated by HadGEM2-AO under representative concentration pathways

We present climate responses of Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) using the coupled climate model HadGEM2-AO for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5). The RCPs are selected as standard scenarios for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report and these scenarios include time paths for emissions and concentrations of greenhouse gas and aerosols and land-use/land cover. The global average warming and precipitation increases for the last 20 years of the 21st century relative to the period 1986-2005 are +1.1°C/+2.1% for RCP2.6, +2.4°C/+4.0% for RCP4.5, +2.5°C/+3.3% for RCP6.0 and +4.1°C/+4.6% for RCP8.5, respectively. The climate response on RCP 2.6 scenario meets the UN Copenhagen Accord to limit global warming within two degrees at the end of 21st century, the mitigation effect is about 3°C between RCP2.6 and RCP8.5. The projected precipitation changes over the 21st century are expected to increase in tropical regions and at high latitudes, and decrease in subtropical regions associated with projected poleward expansions of the Hadley cell. Total soil moisture change is projected to decrease in northern hemisphere high latitudes and increase in central Africa and Asia whereas near-surface soil moisture tends to decrease in most areas according to the warming and evaporation increase. The trend and magnitude of future climate extremes are also projected to increase in proportion to radiative forcing of RCPs. For RCP 8.5, at the end of the summer season the Arctic is projected to be free of sea ice.     

Recent climatic change in Australia: Implications for a CO2-warmed earth

A significant change in mean precipitation occurred over much of Australia between 1913–45 and 1946–78. This is described on a seasonal basis and related to possible changes in the atmospheric circulation. It now appears that during this time mean surface temperatures in the mid southern latitude zone increased by up to 1 °C. This temperature change could be at least partly due to an increase in atmospheric CO₂ concentrations from about 260 ppmv in the early nineteenth century. In any case the observed temperature increase is similar to the predicted future effects of a 50% increase in atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. Thus the climatic change which occurred earlier this century is at least a good analogy for the effects of a CO₂-induced global warming which is expected to occur over a similar time interval in the future. This allows the construction of more detailed and quantitative climate scenarios. The most noteworthy conclusion is that marked changes in the seasonally of precipitation should be anticipated, with seasonal changes in some areas being of the order of 50% or more for a doubling of CO₂ content. The results are in general consistent with earlier more qualitative scenarios for Australia.     

Spatial dependence of diurnal temperature range trends on precipitation from 1950 to 2004

This paper analyzes the spatial dependence of annual diurnal temperature range (DTR) trends from 1950–2004 on the annual climatology of three variables: precipitation, cloud cover, and leaf area index (LAI), by classifying the global land into various climatic regions based on the climatological annual precipitation. The regional average trends for annual minimum temperature (T _min) and DTR exhibit significant spatial correlations with the climatological values of these three variables, while such correlation for annual maximum temperature (T _max) is very weak. In general, the magnitude of the downward trend of DTR and the warming trend of T _min decreases with increasing precipitation amount, cloud cover, and LAI, i.e., with stronger DTR decreasing trends over drier regions. Such spatial dependence of T _min and DTR trends on the climatological precipitation possibly reflects large-scale effects of increased global greenhouse gases and aerosols (and associated changes in cloudiness, soil moisture, and water vapor) during the later half of the twentieth century.     

A transient climate change simulation with greenhouse gas and aerosol forcing: projected climate to the twenty-first century

 The potential climatic consequences of increasing atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration and sulfate aerosol loading are investigated for the years 1900 to 2100 based on five simulations with the CCCma coupled climate model. The five simulations comprise a control experiment without change in GHG or aerosol amount, three independent simulations with increasing GHG and aerosol forcing, and a simulation with increasing GHG forcing only. Climate warming accelerates from the present with global mean temperatures simulated to increase by 1.7 °C to the year 2050 and by a further 2.7 °C by the year 2100. The warming is non-uniform as to hemisphere, season, and underlying surface. Changes in interannual variability of temperature show considerable structure and seasonal dependence. The effect of the comparatively localized negative radiative forcing associated with the aerosol is to retard and reduce the warming by about 0.9 °C at 2050 and 1.2 °C at 2100. Its primary effect on temperature is to counteract the global pattern of GHG-induced warming and only secondarily to affect local temperatures suggesting that the first order transient climate response of the system is determined by feedback processes and only secondarily by the local pattern of radiative forcing. The warming is accompanied by a more active hydrological cycle with increases in precipitation and evaporation rates that are delayed by comparison with temperature increases. There is an “El Nino-like” shift in precipitation and an overall increase in the interannual variability of precipitation. The effect of the aerosol forcing is again primarily to delay and counteract the GHG-induced increase. Decreases in soil moisture are common but regionally dependent and interannual variability changes show considerable structure. Snow cover and sea-ice retreat. A PNA-like anomaly in mean sea-level pressure with an enhanced Aleutian low in northern winter is associated with the tropical shift in precipitation regime. The interannual variability of mean sea-level pressure generally decreases with largest decreases in the tropical Indian ocean region. Changes to the ocean thermal structure are associated with a spin-down of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation together with a decrease in its variability. The effect of aerosol forcing, although modest, differs from that for most other quantities in that it does not act primarily to counteract the GHG forcing effect. The barotropic stream function in the ocean exhibits modest change in the north Pacific but accelerating changes in much of the Southern Ocean and particularly in the north Atlantic where the gyre spins down in conjunction with the decrease in the thermohaline circulation. The results differ in non-trivial ways from earlier equilibrium 2 × CO₂ results with the CCCma model as a consequence of the coupling to a fully three-dimensional ocean model and the evolving nature of the forcing. Received: 24 September 1998 / Accepted: 8 October 1999