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Simple radiative models for surface warming and upper‐troposphere cooling
Author(s) -
Keating P. N.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
international journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0899-8418
DOI - 10.1002/joc.1803
Subject(s) - troposphere , tropopause , environmental science , climatology , water vapor , atmospheric sciences , climate model , radiative transfer , greenhouse gas , global warming , radiative cooling , climate change , altitude (triangle) , meteorology , geology , geography , physics , oceanography , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics
A simple model of greenhouse‐gas radiative processes intended to make the surface‐warming effect of water‐vapour and CO 2 absorption more readily understandable leads to a conclusion that the greenhouse gases also cool the upper troposphere. The results from the simple model are compared with experimental observations, and a functional form for the decline of vertical convection and water‐vapour radiation near the tropopause is derived from previously unexplained high‐altitude cooling‐trend data. A possible reason why global climate models do not show the observed upper‐troposphere cooling trend is tentatively suggested. Copyright © 2008 Royal Meteorological Society