Definition of climate sensitivity

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TeachMeFinance.com - explain climate sensitivity



climate sensitivity

The term 'climate sensitivity' as it applies to the area of the environment can be defined as 'In IPCC Reports, equilibrium climate sensitivity refers to the equilibrium change in global mean surface temperature following a doubling of the atmospheric (equivalent) CO2 concentration. More generally, equilibrium climate sensitivity refers to the equilibrium change in surface air temperature following a unit change in radiative forcing (degrees Celsius, per watts per square meter, °C/Wm-2). In practice, the evaluation of the equilibrium climate sensitivity requires very long simulations with Coupled General Circulation Models (Climate model). The effective climate sensitivity is a related measure that circumvents this requirement. It is evaluated from model output for evolving non-equilibrium conditions. It is a measure of the strengths of the feedbacks at a particular time and may vary with forcing history and climate state. '.

The term 'climate sensitivity' as it applies to the area of carbon dioxide can be defined as ' The magnitude of a climatic response to a perturbing influence. In mathematical modeling of the climate, the difference between simulations as a function of change in a given parameter'.


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Mark McCracken

Author: Mark McCracken is a corporate trainer and author living in Higashi Osaka, Japan. He is the author of thousands of online articles as well as the Business English textbook, "25 Business Skills in English".


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