The role of large-scale, extratropical dynamics in climate change

Conference · Tue Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:10178374

Shepherd, T G ^[1]

---

1. ed.

The climate modeling community has focused recently on improving our understanding of certain processes, such as cloud feedbacks and ocean circulation, that are deemed critical to climate-change prediction. Although attention to such processes is warranted, emphasis on these areas has diminished a general appreciation of the role played by the large-scale dynamics of the extratropical atmosphere. Lack of interest in extratropical dynamics may reflect the assumption that these dynamical processes are a non-problem as far as climate modeling is concerned, since general circulation models (GCMs) calculate motions on this scale from first principles. Nevertheless, serious shortcomings in our ability to understand and simulate large-scale dynamics exist. Partly due to a paucity of standard GCM diagnostic calculations of large-scale motions and their transports of heat, momentum, potential vorticity, and moisture, a comprehensive understanding of the role of large-scale dynamics in GCM climate simulations has not been developed. Uncertainties remain in our understanding and simulation of large-scale extratropical dynamics and their interaction with other climatic processes, such as cloud feedbacks, large-scale ocean circulation, moist convection, air-sea interaction and land-surface processes. To address some of these issues, the 17th Stanstead Seminar was convened at Bishop`s University in Lennoxville, Quebec. The purpose of the Seminar was to promote discussion of the role of large-scale extratropical dynamics in global climate change. Abstracts of the talks are included in this volume. On the basis of these talks, several key issues emerged concerning large-scale extratropical dynamics and their climatic role. Individual records are indexed separately for the database.

• Research Organization: McGill Univ., Montreal, PQ (Canada). Dept. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); National Science Foundation, Washington, DC (United States); Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AI02-93ER61578
• OSTI ID: 10178374
• Report Number(s): DOE/ER/61578--1; CONF-9306361--; ON: DE94017651; BR: KP0500000; CNN: Grant ATM-9221206
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990200
AIR-WATER INTERACTIONS
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION
CHEMICALS MONITORING AND TRANSPORT
CLIMATIC CHANGE
GENERAL CIRCULATION MODELS
LEADING ABSTRACT
MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTERS
MEETINGS