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Energy balance climate models
Author(s) -
North Gerald R.,
Cahalan Robert F.,
Coakley James A.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
reviews of geophysics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 8.087
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1944-9208
pISSN - 8755-1209
DOI - 10.1029/rg019i001p00091
Subject(s) - energy balance , climate model , context (archaeology) , radiative forcing , climate sensitivity , stability (learning theory) , forcing (mathematics) , stochastic modelling , nonlinear system , sensitivity (control systems) , radiative transfer , climate change , environmental science , climatology , statistical physics , mathematics , physics , computer science , geology , statistics , paleontology , oceanography , machine learning , quantum mechanics , electronic engineering , engineering , thermodynamics
An introductory survey of the global energy balance climate models is presented with an emphasis on analytical results. A sequence of increasingly complicated models involving ice cap and radiative feedback processes are solved, and the solutions and parameter sensitivities are studied. The model parameterizations are examined critically in light of many current uncertainties. A simple seasonal model is used to study the effects of changes in orbital elements on the temperature field. A linear stability theorem and a complete nonlinear stability analysis for the models are developed. Analytical solutions are also obtained for the linearized models driven by stochastic forcing elements. In this context the relation between natural fluctuation statistics and climate sensitivity is stressed.