The ocean currents have a powerful influence on our climate. These currents govern the ocean storage of carbon and heat, and have already partially mitigated the effects of global warming. Any change to these currents can abruptly affect global climate as shown in our geological past. This project aims to …
Read More »Research program: The effects of tropical convection on Australia’s climate
Convection is the atmospheric phenomenon that leads to upward and downward air motions, producing most clouds and rain. It can be shallow and produce little rain, or reach all the way to the lower stratosphere and produce heavy rains, as well as thunder and lightning. Deep convection in the Tropics …
Read More »Winter School 2014- Geophysical Fluid Dynamics
Winter School 2014- Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Winter school 2014 attendees- The program is available here. Python tutorial preparation instructions are available here. Fluid mechanics primer material are now available here. Lab groups can be found here, and GFD lab notes are now available here. Lecture slides are available here. Recordings of the lectures can be found here. …
Read More »Solution to cloud riddle reveals hotter future
Global average temperatures will rise at least 4°C by 2100 and potentially more than 8°C by 2200 if carbon dioxide emissions are not reduced according to new research published in Nature that shows our climate is more sensitive to carbon dioxide than most previous estimates. The research could solve one of the …
Read More »New scenarios – SPM.1: Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs)
Climate change projections in WGI require information about future emissions or concentrations of greenhouse gases, aerosols and other climate drivers. This information is often expressed as a scenario of human activities, which are not assessed in this report. IPCC WGI scenarios have focused on anthropogenic emissions and do not include …
Read More »Research program: The role of land surface forcing and feedbacks for regional climate
The land is a core component of the climate system because it stores heat, water, and carbon. More significantly of course we live on the land, source our water from the land, and grow our crops on the land. How the land affects climate, and how climate variability and change …
Read More »Summary for Policymakers
Find a link to the full pdf here. Summary for Policymakers by section A. Introduction B. Observed changes in the Climate System B1. Atmosphere (observations) B2. Ocean (observations) B3. Cryosphere (observations) B4. Sea level (observations) B5. Carbon and other biogeochemical cycles C. Driver of climate change D. Understanding …
Read More »Figures and tables
Tables SPM1: Changes to climate phenomena SPM2: Projected changes to temperature and sea level SPM3: Carbon emission scenarios Figures SPM1: Observed globally averaged combined land and ocean surface temp anomaly 1850-2012 (annual average / decadal average) Observed change in average surface temperature 1901-2012 SPM2: Observed change in precipitation over land SPM3: …
Read More »E.8 Climate Stabilization, Climate Change Commitment and Irreversibility
Cumulative emissions of CO2 largely determine global mean surface warming by the late 21st century and beyond (see Figure SPM.10). Most aspects of climate change will persist for many centuries even if emissions of CO2 are stopped. This represents a substantial multi-century climate change commitment created by past, present and …
Read More »El Nino events get more extreme as globe warms
Monday, October 28, 2013: New research shows El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomena have been more active and intense during the 30-year period between 1979-2009 than at any time during the past 600 years. At the same time, this result suggests that the intensity and activity of El Niño and La …
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