skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Climate Model Response from the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP)

Abstract

Solar geoengineering—deliberate reduction in the amount of solar radiation retained by the Earth—has been proposed as a means of counteracting some of the climatic effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. We present results from Experiment G1 of the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project, in which 12 climate models have simulated the climate response to an abrupt quadrupling of CO2 from preindustrial concentrations brought into radiative balance via a globally uniform reduction in insolation. Models show this reduction largely offsets global mean surface temperature increases due to quadrupled CO2 concentrations and prevents 97% of the Arctic sea ice loss that would otherwise occur under high CO2 levels but, compared to the preindustrial climate, leaves the tropics cooler (-0.3 K) and the poles warmer (+0.8 K). Annual mean precipitation minus evaporation anomalies for G1 are less than 0.2mmday-1 in magnitude over 92% of the globe, but some tropical regions receive less precipitation, in part due to increased moist static stability and suppression of convection. Global average net primary productivity increases by 120% in G1 over simulated preindustrial levels, primarily from CO2 fertilization, but also in part due to reduced plant heat stress compared to a high CO2 world with no geoengineering. All modelsmore » show that uniform solar geoengineering in G1 cannot simultaneously return regional and global temperature and hydrologic cycle intensity to preindustrial levels.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »; ; ; ; « less
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1092643
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-89208
KP1703020
DOE Contract Number:  
AC05-76RL01830
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Journal of Geophysical Research. D. (Atmospheres), 118(15):8320-8332
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research. D. (Atmospheres), 118(15):8320-8332
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
Geoengineering; climate; Co2; Geoengineering Intercomparison Project

Citation Formats

Kravitz, Benjamin S., Caldeira, Ken, Boucher, Olivier, Robock, Alan, Rasch, Philip J., Alterskjaer, Kari, Bou Karam, Diana, Cole, Jason N., Curry, Charles L., Haywood, J., Irvine, Peter, Ji, Duoying, Jones, A., Kristjansson, J. E., Lunt, Daniel, Moore, John, Niemeier, Ulrike, Schmidt, Hauke, Schulz, M., Singh, Balwinder, Tilmes, S., Watanabe, Shingo, Yang, Shuting, and Yoon, Jin-Ho. Climate Model Response from the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP). United States: N. p., 2013. Web. doi:10.1002/jgrd.50646.
Kravitz, Benjamin S., Caldeira, Ken, Boucher, Olivier, Robock, Alan, Rasch, Philip J., Alterskjaer, Kari, Bou Karam, Diana, Cole, Jason N., Curry, Charles L., Haywood, J., Irvine, Peter, Ji, Duoying, Jones, A., Kristjansson, J. E., Lunt, Daniel, Moore, John, Niemeier, Ulrike, Schmidt, Hauke, Schulz, M., Singh, Balwinder, Tilmes, S., Watanabe, Shingo, Yang, Shuting, & Yoon, Jin-Ho. Climate Model Response from the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP). United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50646
Kravitz, Benjamin S., Caldeira, Ken, Boucher, Olivier, Robock, Alan, Rasch, Philip J., Alterskjaer, Kari, Bou Karam, Diana, Cole, Jason N., Curry, Charles L., Haywood, J., Irvine, Peter, Ji, Duoying, Jones, A., Kristjansson, J. E., Lunt, Daniel, Moore, John, Niemeier, Ulrike, Schmidt, Hauke, Schulz, M., Singh, Balwinder, Tilmes, S., Watanabe, Shingo, Yang, Shuting, and Yoon, Jin-Ho. 2013. "Climate Model Response from the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP)". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50646.
@article{osti_1092643,
title = {Climate Model Response from the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP)},
author = {Kravitz, Benjamin S. and Caldeira, Ken and Boucher, Olivier and Robock, Alan and Rasch, Philip J. and Alterskjaer, Kari and Bou Karam, Diana and Cole, Jason N. and Curry, Charles L. and Haywood, J. and Irvine, Peter and Ji, Duoying and Jones, A. and Kristjansson, J. E. and Lunt, Daniel and Moore, John and Niemeier, Ulrike and Schmidt, Hauke and Schulz, M. and Singh, Balwinder and Tilmes, S. and Watanabe, Shingo and Yang, Shuting and Yoon, Jin-Ho},
abstractNote = {Solar geoengineering—deliberate reduction in the amount of solar radiation retained by the Earth—has been proposed as a means of counteracting some of the climatic effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. We present results from Experiment G1 of the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project, in which 12 climate models have simulated the climate response to an abrupt quadrupling of CO2 from preindustrial concentrations brought into radiative balance via a globally uniform reduction in insolation. Models show this reduction largely offsets global mean surface temperature increases due to quadrupled CO2 concentrations and prevents 97% of the Arctic sea ice loss that would otherwise occur under high CO2 levels but, compared to the preindustrial climate, leaves the tropics cooler (-0.3 K) and the poles warmer (+0.8 K). Annual mean precipitation minus evaporation anomalies for G1 are less than 0.2mmday-1 in magnitude over 92% of the globe, but some tropical regions receive less precipitation, in part due to increased moist static stability and suppression of convection. Global average net primary productivity increases by 120% in G1 over simulated preindustrial levels, primarily from CO2 fertilization, but also in part due to reduced plant heat stress compared to a high CO2 world with no geoengineering. All models show that uniform solar geoengineering in G1 cannot simultaneously return regional and global temperature and hydrologic cycle intensity to preindustrial levels.},
doi = {10.1002/jgrd.50646},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1092643}, journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research. D. (Atmospheres), 118(15):8320-8332},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Aug 09 00:00:00 EDT 2013},
month = {Fri Aug 09 00:00:00 EDT 2013}
}