The benefits of quantifying climate model uncertainty in climate change impacts assessment: an example with heat-related mortality change estimates

The majority of climate change impacts assessments account for climate change uncertainty by adopting the scenario-based approach. This typically involves assessing the impacts for a small number of emissions scenarios but neglecting the role of climate model physics uncertainty. Perturbed physics ensemble (PPE) climate simulations offer a unique opportunity to explore this uncertainty. Furthermore, PPEs mean it is now possible to make risk-based impacts estimates because they allow for a range of estimates to be presented to decision-makers, which spans the range of climate model physics uncertainty inherent from a given climate model and emissions scenario, due to uncertainty associated with the understanding of physical processes in the climate model. This is generally not possible with the scenario-based approach. Here, we present the first application of a PPE to estimate the impact of climate change on heat-related mortality. By using the estimated impacts of climate change on heat-related mortality in six cities, we demonstrate the benefits of quantifying climate model physics uncertainty in climate change impacts assessment over the more common scenario-based approach. We also show that the impacts are more sensitive to climate model physics uncertainty than they are to emissions scenario uncertainty, and least sensitive to whether the climate change projections are from a global climate model or a regional climate model. The results demonstrate the importance of presenting model uncertainties in climate change impacts assessments if the impacts are to be placed within a climate risk management framework.     

年周期气候态对气候模式的修正

文中从两个独立的假定导出了距平模式,即:假定年周期气候态为控制实际气候系统演化方程组的解或假定反映年周期气候态的基态量远大于反映气候扰动态的扰动量。第一个假定放宽了导出距平模式的条件,而在第二个假定下距平模式在一定的近似程度下是成立的。另外笔者注意到:距平模式通过引入实际观测到的年周期态,相当于在非距平模中引入了年周期气候态的修正项。     

我国短期气候动力预测模式系统的研究及试验

气候和气候异常对我国的国民经济发展具有重大影响,为提高短期气候预测的准确率,研究动力气候模式短期气候预测新技术至关重要.通过近5年的努力,建立了一套出月动力延伸预报模式,海气耦合的全球气候模式(AGCM+OGCM+海冰+高分辨率印度洋-太平洋海盆模式),区域气候模式季和年际尺度的业务动力模式组成的系统.初步把我国的短期气候预测水平由经验统计方法提高到定量和客观分析的水平上.在此基础上,已建成了一个具有物理基础的统计方法与气候动力模式相结合的综合气候预报系统.     

Using climate impacts indicators to evaluate climate model ensembles: temperature suitability of premium winegrape cultivation in the United States

We explore the potential to improve understanding of the climate system by directly targeting climate model analyses at specific indicators of climate change impact. Using the temperature suitability of premium winegrape cultivation as a climate impacts indicator, we quantify the inter- and intra-ensemble spread in three climate model ensembles: a physically uniform multi-member ensemble consisting of the RegCM3 high-resolution climate model nested within the NCAR CCSM3 global climate model; the multi-model NARCCAP ensemble consisting of single realizations of multiple high-resolution climate models nested within multiple global climate models; and the multi-model CMIP3 ensemble consisting of realizations of multiple global climate models. We find that the temperature suitability for premium winegrape cultivation is substantially reduced throughout the high-value growing areas of California and the Columbia Valley region (eastern Oregon and Washington) in all three ensembles in response to changes in temperature projected for the mid-twenty first century period. The reductions in temperature suitability are driven primarily by projected increases in mean growing season temperature and occurrence of growing season severe hot days. The intra-ensemble spread in the simulated climate change impact is smaller in the single-model ensemble than in the multi-model ensembles, suggesting that the uncertainty arising from internal climate system variability is smaller than the uncertainty arising from climate model formulation. In addition, the intra-ensemble spread is similar in the NARCCAP nested climate model ensemble and the CMIP3 global climate model ensemble, suggesting that the uncertainty arising from the model formulation of fine-scale climate processes is not smaller than the uncertainty arising from the formulation of large-scale climate processes. Correction of climate model biases substantially reduces both the inter- and intra-ensemble spread in projected climate change impact, particularly for the multi-model ensembles, suggesting that—at least for some systems—the projected impacts of climate change could be more robust than the projected climate change. Extension of this impacts-based analysis to a larger suite of impacts indicators will deepen our understanding of future climate change uncertainty by focusing on the climate phenomena that most directly influence natural and human systems.     

CMIP5气候模式对中国未来气候变化的预估和应用

气候模式是研究气候系统和气候变化的有力工具,其模拟结果是进行气候预测和气候变化风险评估的重要数据基础。随着全球气候变暖速度加快,地表生态环境、水文动态循环过程、社会经济发展等都受到其影响,进而影响到人类的生产和生活。利用气候模式对未来气候变化特征进行评估和预测,可为人类调整发展策略以适应气候变化提供科学依据。通过汇总CMIP5(Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5)模式在气候变化方面的相关研究,综述了CMIP5气候模式在农业生产、水文动态监控以及其他领域中的应用,最后指出了CMIP5气候模式在模拟预估未来气候变化上存在的不足,并展望了CMIP5气候模式在未来的应用。     

气候变化综合评估模型的损失函数研究进展

该研究从综合评估模型(IAM)的模型耦合视角出发,介绍了当前损失函数的研究进展,主要从损失函数的构建方法、损失函数与IAM气候模块和经济模块的耦合以及IAM与气候模式的耦合角度分析了损失函数的耦合功能及其存在的科学问题,探讨了损失函数的改进方向。通过文献梳理发现,损失函数的构建方法上,主要采用专家判断法、元分析法和统计学方法,但各有优缺点;与气候模式的耦合功能上,损失函数多以温升为气候变化因素,降水等气候变化信息无法表达,且由全球尺度的年平均值进行标定,不能体现区域的差异和季节的变化,无法直接描述极端气候事件造成的巨大损失;与经济模块的耦合功能上,基于生产部门的损失函数缺乏间接损失评估功能,缺乏对经济增长的动态影响机制。针对上述IAM中气候变化对经济影响的反馈机制的不足,需重点从细化区域气候变化因素影响和细分经济产业部门两个方向重构损失函数,紧密连接气候模式与经济模块,全面评估气候变化经济损失,并需要从技术上解决损失函数在耦合经济模块与气候模式时出现的时空尺度不匹配问题,最终为IAM与气候模式甚至地球系统模式的耦合提供重要的解决方案。     

On the added value of regional climate modeling in climate change assessment

Regional climate models represent a promising tool to assess the regional dimension of future climate change and are widely used in climate impact research. While the added value of regional climate models has been highlighted with respect to a better representation of land-surface interactions and atmospheric processes, it is still unclear whether radiative heating implies predictability down to the typical scale of a regional climate model. As a quantitative assessment, we apply an optimal statistical filter to compare the coherence between observed and simulated patterns of Mediterranean climate change from a global and a regional climate model. It is found that the regional climate model has indeed an added value in the detection of regional climate change, contrary to former assumptions. The optimal filter may also serve as a weighting factor in multi-model averaging.     

CSU－RAMS模式在区域气侯模拟中的应用

将ＣＳＵ－ＲＡＭＳ（中尺度）数值模式改造成“区域气候数值模式”以及进行区域气候数值模拟的试验研究。说明将有限区域中尺度数值模式与ＧＣＭ模式嵌套区域气候数值模拟研究上能够取得有意义的结果,它能在一定程度上改善ＧＣＭ模式的不足,可以更为细致地描述大气环流的变化特征,是了解区域气候变化的有效方法之一。     

一非线性统计－动力气候模式及其降水预报试验

在带有线性反馈的统计－动力气候模式的基础上，提出了一种非线性统计－动力气候模式。该模式的实质是用逐段线性化的统计－动力气候模式来描述气候系统的总体非线性变化特征。试验结果表明，该模式能更客观地预测气候变化     

Validation of climate model output using Bayesian statistical methods

The growing interest in and emphasis on high spatial resolution estimates of future climate has demonstrated the need to apply regional climate models (RCMs) to that problem. As a consequence, the need for validation of these models, an assessment of how well an RCM reproduces a known climate, has also grown. Validation is often performed by comparing RCM output to gridded climate datasets and/or station data. The primary disadvantage of using gridded climate datasets is that the spatial resolution is almost always different and generally coarser than climate model output. We have used a Bayesian statistical model derived from observational data to validate RCM output. We used surface air temperature (SAT) data from 109 observational stations in California, all with records of approximately 50 years in length, and created a statistical model based on this data. The statistical model takes into account the elevation of the station, distance from coastline, and the NOAA climate region in which the station resides. Analysis indicates that the statistical model provides reliable estimates of the mean monthly SAT at any given station. In our method, the uncertainty in the estimates produced by the statistical model are directly determined by obtaining probability density functions for predicted SATs. This statistical model is then used to estimate average SATs corresponding to each of the climate model grid cells. These estimates are compared to the output of the RCM to assess how well the RCM matches the observed climate as defined by the statistical model. Overall, the match between the RCM output and the statistical model is good, with some deficiencies likely due in part to the representation of topography in the RCM.     

Notes of Numerical Simulation of Summer Rainfall in China with a Regional Climate Model REMO

Regional climate models are major tools for regional climate simulation and their output are mostly used for climate impact studies. Notes are reported from a series of numerical simulations of summer rainfall in China with a regional climate model. Domain sizes and running modes are major foci. The results reveal that the model in forecast mode driven by "perfect" boundaries could reasonably represent the inter-annual differences: heavy rainfall along the Yangtze River in 1998 and dry conditions in 1997. Model simulation in climate mode differs to a greater extent from observation than that in forecast mode. This may be due to the fact that in climate mode it departs further from the driving fields and relies more on internal model dynamical processes. A smaller domain in climate mode outperforms a larger one. Further development of model parameterizations including dynamic vegetation are encouraged in future studies.     

Climate model errors, feedbacks and forcings: a comparison of perturbed physics and multi-model ensembles

Ensembles of climate model simulations are required for input into probabilistic assessments of the risk of future climate change in which uncertainties are quantified. Here we document and compare aspects of climate model ensembles from the multi-model archive and from perturbed physics ensembles generated using the third version of the Hadley Centre climate model (HadCM3). Model-error characteristics derived from time-averaged two-dimensional fields of observed climate variables indicate that the perturbed physics approach is capable of sampling a relatively wide range of different mean climate states, consistent with simple estimates of observational uncertainty and comparable to the range of mean states sampled by the multi-model ensemble. The perturbed physics approach is also capable of sampling a relatively wide range of climate forcings and climate feedbacks under enhanced levels of greenhouse gases, again comparable with the multi-model ensemble. By examining correlations between global time-averaged measures of model error and global measures of climate change feedback strengths, we conclude that there are no simple emergent relationships between climate model errors and the magnitude of future global temperature change. Algorithms for quantifying uncertainty require the use of complex multivariate metrics for constraining projections.     

River discharge to the Baltic Sea in a future climate

This study reports on new projections of discharge to the Baltic Sea given possible realisations of future climate and uncertainties regarding these projections. A high-resolution, pan-Baltic application of the Hydrological Predictions for the Environment (HYPE) model was used to make transient simulations of discharge to the Baltic Sea for a mini-ensemble of climate projections representing two high emissions scenarios. The biases in precipitation and temperature adherent to climate models were adjusted using a Distribution Based Scaling (DBS) approach. As well as the climate projection uncertainty, this study considers uncertainties in the bias-correction and hydrological modelling. While the results indicate that the cumulative discharge to the Baltic Sea for 2071 to 2100, as compared to 1971 to 2000, is likely to increase, the uncertainties quantified from the hydrological model and the bias-correction method show that even with a state-of-the-art methodology, the combined uncertainties from the climate model, bias-correction and impact model make it difficult to draw conclusions about the magnitude of change. It is therefore urged that as well as climate model and scenario uncertainty, the uncertainties in the bias-correction methodology and the impact model are also taken into account when conducting climate change impact studies.     

Influence of changed vegetations fields on regional climate simulations in the Barents Sea Region

In the context of the EU-Project BALANCE () the regional climate model REMO was used for extensive calculations of the Barents Sea climate to investigate the vulnerability of this region to climate change. The regional climate model REMO simulated the climate change of the Barents Sea Region between 1961 and 2100 (Control and Climate Change run, CCC-Run). REMO on ~50 km horizontal resolution was driven by the transient ECHAM4/OPYC3 IPCC SRES B2 scenario. The output of the CCC-Run was applied to drive the dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS. The results of the vegetation model were used to repeat the CCC-Run with dynamic vegetation fields. The feedback effect of the modified vegetation on the climate change signal is investigated and discussed with focus on precipitation, temperature and snow cover. The effect of the offline coupled vegetation feedback run is much lower than the greenhouse gas effect.     

A simple model perturbed physics study of the simulated climate sensitivity uncertainty and its relation to control climate biases

In this study the relationship between climate model biases in the control climate and the simulated climate sensitivity are discussed on the basis of perturbed physics ensemble simulations with a globally resolved energy balance (GREB) model. It is illustrated that the uncertainties in the simulated climate sensitivity (estimated by the transient response to CO₂ forcing scenarios in the twenty first century or idealized 2 × CO₂ forcing experiments) can be conceptually split into two parts: a direct effect of the perturbed physics on the climate sensitivity independent of the control mean climate and an indirect effect of the perturbed physics by changing the control mean climate, which in turn changes the climate sensitivity, as the climate sensitivity itself is depending on the control climate. Biases in the control climate are negatively correlated with the climate sensitivity (colder climates have larger sensitivities), if no physics are perturbed. Perturbed physics that lead to warmer control climate, would in average also lead to larger climate sensitivities, if the control climate is held at the observed reference climate by flux corrections. Thus the effects of control biases and perturbed physics are opposing each other and are partially cancelling each other out. In the GREB model the biases in the control climate are the more important effect for the regional climate sensitivity uncertainties, but for the global mean climate sensitivity both, the biases in the control climate and the perturbed physics, are equally important.     

基于EMD方法的观测数据信息提取与预测研究

用统计方法作月、季尺度的短期气候乃至年际尺度的长期气候预测是当前气候预测业务的主要依据,在短时间内这种情况仍然不可能彻底改变。虽然数值预报模式的预测能力达到了7 d的时效,不过要积分到月、季尺度并实现短期气候预测还面临着重重困难。其根本原因是气候系统的混沌分量和非线性/非平稳性等因素在起作用。而现有气候预测的统计方法(主要包括经验统计、数理统计和物理统计等方法)的数学基础却忽略了这些特点,这是因为以现有的科学水平人们不得不假设时间序列是线性和平稳的。实际气候观测序列普遍具有层次性、非线性和非平稳性,这给建立预测方法带来了极大困难。文中构建了一个新的预测模型,即首先利用经验模态分解(em-pirical mode decomposition,EMD)方法将气候序列作平稳化处理,得到一系列平稳分量-本征模函数(intrinsic modefunction,IMF);其次,利用均生函数(mean generate function,MGF)模型获得各分量的初次预测值;最后,在最优子集回归(optimal subset regression,OSR)模型的基础上,通过直接或逐步拟合一部分预测值,构建两种预测方案达到提高预测能力的目的。典型气候序列的预测试验结果表明,具有平稳化的IMF分量,尤其是特征IMF分量有较高的可预测性,它对原序列趋势的预测有重要指示意义。大力开展气候系统机理和气候层次的研究,并建立相应的气候模式是未来发展趋势。该文是这方面的一个初步尝试,相信该模型能为气候预测(评估)开辟一条新的有效途径。     

MM5对中全新世时期中国地区气候的模拟研究

MM5模式结果与地质记录的对比表明,这个模式系统可以较好地模拟中全新世时气候的变化,特别是模式模拟的降水变化与地质记录吻合得较好.区域模式的结果比全球模式结果有所改进.模式结果显示:与现代相比,中全新世时,中国地区的气温升高,夏季升温超过冬季.同时,中国的内蒙古东部地区、东北地区和华北地区降水显著增加;而中国的华东、华中、华南和西南地区降水减少.中国东部30°N以北地区夏季风增强;中国东部的冬季风减弱.从一系列敏感试验结果,可以发现:在中全新世时,中国地区的气温、风场和降水的变化主要受大尺度环流背景场变化的影响,其对降水变化的影响超过50%.其次受地表状况和植被变化的影响,植被的变化主要影响中国东部地区,使得在冬季和夏季中国地区均升温;而且,对华北部分地区降水变化的影响最大超过25%.地球轨道的变化使得中全新世时太阳辐射的季节变化较大,造成中全新世时中国地区在冬季降温,在夏季升温;同时,对东北和华北地区的降水有重要影响,其影响与植被变化的影响相当.中全新世时,大气中CO2的体积混合比为280×10-6,CO2的变化使得中伞新世时气温降低,但量级较小.影响中全新世时中国地区气候变化的因子,按影响程度由大到小的排序为:大尺度环流背景场、植被变化、地球轨道参数变化和CO2浓度变化.     

月尺度区域气候数值预测试验

将９层全球气候谱模式与ＣＳＵ－ＲＡＭＳ中尺度数值式嵌套,进行了月尺度的短期区域气候预测试验。结果表明：ＧＣＭ模式的集合预报能够反映较大尺度的平均环流;在此基础上,被嵌套的ＣＳＵ－ＲＡＭＳ中尺度模式能够得到更为细致的区域环流特征以及它的短期气候尺度的演率。ＧＣＭ模式与中尺度模式相结合的“区域气候数据模式”是了解短期区域气候变化的有效方法之一。     

Assessing climate change impacts on hydrology from an ensemble of regional climate models,model scales and linking methods – a case study on the Lule River basin

This paper investigates how using different regional climate model (RCM) simulations affects climate change impacts on hydrology in northern Europe using an offline hydrological model. Climate change scenarios from an ensemble of seven RCMs, two global climate models (GCMs), two global emissions scenarios and two RCMs of varying resolution were used. A total of 15 climate change simulations were included in studies on the Lule River basin in Northern Sweden. Two different approaches to transfer climate change from the RCMs to hydrological models were tested. A rudimentary estimate of change in hydropower potential on the Lule River due to climate change was also made. The results indicate an overall increase in river flow, earlier spring peak flows and an increase in hydropower potential. The two approaches for transferring the signal of climate change to the hydrological impacts model gave similar mean results, but considerably different seasonal dynamics, a result that is highly relevant for other types of climate change impacts studies.     

成都区域中心动力气候模式产品降尺度应用业务系统

利用动力气候模式（T63）产品进行降尺度解释应用,是目前以及未来开展气候预测的主要手段。本系统基于国家气候中心下发的气候模式产品、NCEP／NCAR500hPa高度场、西南区域84个代表站温度降水历年资料,采用动力统计相结合的技术方法,建立了“成都区域气象中心动力气候模式解释应用系统”,该系统以统计降尺度方法在西南区短期气候预测中的业务化应用为目的,实现了统计方法与动力模式相结合的业务化,经过5年业务回报试验和近2年的预测业务运行,结果表明：该系统对西南区域的月尺度温度和降水有较好的预报能力,已成为西南区域气候中心日常业务的主要参考依据。本文主要介绍该系统平台的各子系统性能及采用的技术方法。