Seasonal climate scenarios for Europe and North America in a high-CO/sub 2/, warmer world

Technical Report · Wed Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984

OSTI ID:6872475

Palutikof, J P; Wigley, T M.L.; Lough, J M

As a result of man's activities, the concentration of CO/sub 2/ in the atmosphere has risen substantially since pre-industrial times. Future increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide may be expected to cause extensive disruptions of the global circulation system, accompanied by continuing and eventually substantial changes in climate. This report presents work done in the Climatic Research Unit to determine possible patterns of climatic change in Europe and North America associated with a global CO/sub 2/-induced warming. Although numerical models and analogues based on warm periods in the geological past have been used to simulate the effects of increasing CO/sub 2/ on climate, they cannot provide the necessary detail to allow scenario development on a regional scale. The scenarios presented here are based on warm and cold periods from the twentieth-century instrumental record. Four sets of scenarios were prepared, each using different criteria for the selection of data used in the construction process.

• Research Organization: East Anglia Univ. (UK). School of Environmental Sciences
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-79EV10098
• OSTI ID: 6872475
• Report Number(s): DOE/EV/10098-5; ON: DE84016182
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AMBIENT TEMPERATURE
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CLIMATES
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FORECASTING
GLOBAL ASPECTS
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
VARIATIONS