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13 - Feedbacks and Climate Sensitivity

from Flows of Energy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2022

Kevin E. Trenberth
Kevin E. Trenberth
Affiliation:
National Center for Atmospheric Research
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Summary

The climate is changing. The main reason is because of human-induced changes in atmospheric composition which produce warming from increased greenhouse gases. This is referred to as a forcing of the climate system. There are many other forcings, both natural and anthropogenic. The issue then is to determine the consequences in terms of the change in climate and its impacts. There is a direct response to just about any forcing, and in some cases that is the answer we seek. But in many or most cases, it is not so simple. Rather, the initial change provokes other responses, especially in the atmospheric and ocean circulation, that in turn cause other changes to occur. If the response amplifies the original change, then it is referred to as a positive feedback. Whereas if the response offsets and reduces the outcome, then it is a negative feedback. The size of some effects is quantified in Section 13.5.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Changing Flow of Energy Through the Climate System , pp. 197 - 209
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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References

References and Further Reading

Charney, J. G., Stevens, B., Held, I. H., et al., 1979: Carbon Dioxide and Climate: A Scientific Assessment. Washington, DC: US National Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Dessler, A. E., 2020: Potential problems measuring climate sensitivity from the historical record. Journal of Climate, 33, 2237–2248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dessler, A. E., and Forster, P. M., 2018: An estimate of equilibrium climate sensitivity from interannual variability. Journal of Geophysical Research, 123, 8634–8645. doi: 10.1029/2018JD028481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dessler, A. E., Mauritsen, T., and Stevens, B., 2018: The influence of internal variability on Earth’s energy balance framework and implications for estimating climate sensitivity. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 18, 5147–5155. doi: 10.5194/acp-18-5147-2018.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trenberth, K. E., Zhang, Y., Fasullo, J. T., and Taguchi, S., 2015: Climate variability and relationships between top-of-atmosphere radiation and temperatures on Earth. Journal of Geophysical Research, 120, 3642–3659. doi: 10.1002/2014JD022887.Google Scholar
Trenberth, K. E., Zhang, Y., and Fasullo, J. T., 2015: Relationships among top-of-atmosphere radiation and atmospheric state variables in observations and CESM. Journal of Geophysical Research, 120, 10,074–10,090. doi: 10.1002/2015JD023381.Google Scholar
Zhu, J., Poulsen, C. J., and Otto-Bliesner, B. L., 2020: High climate sensitivity in CMIP6 model not supported by paleoclimate. Geophysical Research Letters, 47. doi: 10.1038/s41558–020-0764-6.Google Scholar

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