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Sensitivity of Climate Feedbacks to Vertical Resolution in a General Circulation Model
Author(s) -
Ingram William,
Bushell Andrew C.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2020gl092268
Subject(s) - gcm transcription factors , climatology , climate sensitivity , general circulation model , environmental science , sensitivity (control systems) , climate model , hadley cell , hadcm3 , climate change , horizontal resolution , coupled model intercomparison project , atmospheric sciences , geology , oceanography , electronic engineering , engineering
Many of the current, Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6), General Circulation Models (GCMs) show climate sensitivity higher than currently accepted uncertainty ranges. There is a weak correlation between increases in vertical resolution and in climate sensitivity from CMIP5. In particular, the MO Hadley Centre GCM’s vertical resolution has more than doubled, and its climate sensitivity has also increased substantially. We therefore compare estimates of climate sensitivity from the CMIP6 model HadGEM3‐GC3.1‐LL, with 85 levels, and a version with 242 levels. This is far higher resolution than in any previously published simulations with a mainstream GCM, though still less than many scales important for clouds. The climate sensitivity and feedbacks, including the cloud feedback, change little. This suggests that vertical resolution did not drive recent increases in GCM climate sensitivity, though this result should be further tested in other GCMs and over a broader range of resolutions.