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9 - Constraining Climate

A Conservative View of Modeling

from Part II - The Present

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2021

R. Saravanan
Affiliation:
Texas A & M University
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Summary

Climate modeling developed further at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. The laws of physics that form the foundation of weather and climate models imply strict conservation of properties like mass, momentum, and energy. A household budget analogy can be used to explain these conservation requirements, which are stricter for climate models as opposed to weather models. A mismatch in the energy transfer between atmospheric and oceanic models that were part of a climate model led to a correction technique developed in the 1980s known as flux adjustment, which violated energy conservation. Subsequent improvements in climate models obviated the need for these artificial flux adjustments. Now we have more complex models, known as Earth System Models, that include biological and chemical processes such as the carbon cycle. The concept of the constraining power of models is introduced.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Climate Demon
Past, Present, and Future of Climate Prediction
, pp. 142 - 156
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Constraining Climate
  • R. Saravanan, Texas A & M University
  • Book: The Climate Demon
  • Online publication: 02 November 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009039604.013
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  • Constraining Climate
  • R. Saravanan, Texas A & M University
  • Book: The Climate Demon
  • Online publication: 02 November 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009039604.013
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Constraining Climate
  • R. Saravanan, Texas A & M University
  • Book: The Climate Demon
  • Online publication: 02 November 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009039604.013
Available formats
×