Studies of the role of clouds in CO sub 2 -induced climate change

Technical Report · Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1992

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7037280· OSTI ID:7037280

Randall, D A

Predictions of global change based on climate models are influencing both national and international policies on energy and the environment. Existing climate models show some skill in simulating the present climate, but suffer from many widely acknowledged deficiencies. Among the most serious problems is the need to apply flux corrections'' to prevent the models from drifting away from the observed climate in control runs that do not include external perturbing influences such as increased carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) concentrations. The flux corrections required to prevent climate drift are typically comparable in magnitude to the observed fluxes themselves. During the past three years, we have conducted a research program designed to investigate global air-sea interaction as it relates to the global warming problem, with special emphasizing the role of clouds. Our research includes model development efforts; application of models to simulation of present and future climates, with comparison to observations wherever possible; and vigorous participation in ongoing efforts to intercompare the present generation of atmospheric general circulation models.

• Research Organization: Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States). Dept. of Atmospheric Science
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: FG02-89ER69027
• OSTI ID: 7037280
• Report Number(s): DOE/ER/69027-3; ON: DE92018648
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CLIMATIC CHANGE
CLIMATE MODELS
CLOUDS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
AIR-WATER INTERACTIONS
CARBON DIOXIDE
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
GENERAL CIRCULATION MODELS
ONE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
PROGRESS REPORT
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
DOCUMENT TYPES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
540120* - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)