American Geophysical Union Become an AGU Member
Subscribe to AGU Journals		 AGU Home AGU Publications

Read Full Article (file size: 129605 bytes)    Cited by

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 34, L22710, doi:10.1029/2007GL031383, 2007

Twentieth century climate model response and climate sensitivity

Jeffrey T. Kiehl

Climate Change Research Section, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA


Abstract

Climate forcing and climate sensitivity are two key factors in understanding Earth's climate. There is considerable interest in decreasing our uncertainty in climate sensitivity. This study explores the role of these two factors in climate simulations of the 20th century. It is found that the total anthropogenic forcing for a wide range of climate models differs by a factor of two and that the total forcing is inversely correlated to climate sensitivity. Much of the uncertainty in total anthropogenic forcing derives from a threefold range of uncertainty in the aerosol forcing used in the simulations.

Received 19 July 2007; accepted 13 September 2007; published 28 November 2007.

Keywords: climate model; climate forcing; climate sensitivity.

Index Terms: 1626 Global Change: Global climate models (3337, 4928); 3337 Atmospheric Processes: Global climate models (1626, 4928); 0305 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801, 4906).

Read Full Article (file size: 129605 bytes)    Cited by

Citation: Kiehl, J. T. (2007), Twentieth century climate model response and climate sensitivity, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L22710, doi:10.1029/2007GL031383.