Climate model

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Climate models use quantitative methods to simulate the interactions of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, and ice. They are used for a variety of purposes from study of the dynamics of the climate system to projections of future climate.

All climate models take account of incoming energy as short wave electromagnetic radiation (which in this context means visible and ultraviolet, not to be confused with shortwave) to the earth as well as outgoing energy as long wave (infrared) electromagnetic radiation from the earth. Any imbalance results in a change in the average temperature of the earth.

The most talked-about models of recent years have been those relating temperature to emissions of carbon dioxide (see greenhouse gas). These models project an upward trend in the surface temperature record, as well as a more rapid increase in temperature at higher altitudes.

Models can range from relatively simple to quite complex:

This is not a full list; for example "box models" can be written to treat flows across and within ocean basins. Furthermore, other types of modelling can be interlinked, such as land use, allowing researchers to predict the interaction between climate and ecosystems.

For more information about Climate model, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with climate models

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Oceans' uptake of manmade carbon may be slowing

Oceans' uptake of manmade carbon may be slowing

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (23) | comments 9

The oceans play a key role in regulating climate, absorbing more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans put into the air. Now, the first year-by-year accounting of this mechanism during the industrial ...


Cave study links climate change to California droughts

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 0

California experienced centuries-long droughts in the past 20,000 years that coincided with the thawing of ice caps in the Arctic, according to a new study by UC Davis doctoral student Jessica Oster and geology professor ...


Nocturnal wind maximum mapped for first time

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

On beautiful, sunny days with quiet weather conditions a strong wind develops in the evening at a height of about 200 metres.


North Carolina Sea Levels Rising Three Times Faster Than in Previous 500 Years, Study Says

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Oct 28, 2009 | popularity 2.5 / 5 (10) | comments 1

PHILADELPHIA -- An international team of environmental scientists led by the University of Pennsylvania has shown that sea-level rise, at least in North Carolina, is accelerating. Researchers found 20th-century sea-level ...


As Greenland melts

As Greenland melts

Space & Earth / Environment

created Oct 19, 2009 | popularity 2.5 / 5 (8) | comments 3

Not that long ago - the blink of a geologic eye - global temperatures were so warm that ice on Greenland could have been hard to come by. Today, the largest island in the world is covered with ice 1.6 miles ...


Key new ingredient in climate model refines global predictions

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Oct 09, 2009 | popularity 3.6 / 5 (23) | comments 28

For the first time, climate scientists from across the country have successfully incorporated the nitrogen cycle into global simulations for climate change, questioning previous assumptions regarding carbon feedback and potentially ...


Climate models don't tell the full story

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Oct 08, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (10) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Climate models that predict heavy rainfall don’t give the whole picture, according to the results of a study by NWO (Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research) scientist Martin Ziegler. He examined ...


The Fall of the Maya: 'They Did it to Themselves'

The Fall of the Maya: 'They Did it to Themselves'

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Oct 07, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (53) | comments 16

For 1200 years, the Maya dominated Central America. At their peak around 900 A.D., Maya cities teemed with more than 2,000 people per square mile -- comparable to modern Los Angeles County. Even in rural areas ...


How to limit risk of climate catastrophe

How to limit risk of climate catastrophe

Space & Earth / Environment

created Oct 02, 2009 | popularity 2.1 / 5 (14) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new analysis of climate risk, published by researchers at MIT and elsewhere, shows that even moderate carbon-reduction policies now can substantially lower the risk of future climate change. ...


Warming, heat waves projected to grow worse with large regional variability

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Sep 30, 2009 | popularity 2.2 / 5 (9) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- While long-term projections call for higher temperatures and heat waves even more intense than previously thought, considerable geographic variability is also in the forecast, according to a study published ...


Feds to decide on listing ice seals as threatened

Biology / Ecology

created Sep 28, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(AP) -- A federal agency must decide within three weeks whether spotted seals, which depend on sea ice off Alaska's coast, should be listed as a threatened or endangered species.


Study reveals dynamic Wisconsin climate, past and future

Study reveals dynamic Wisconsin climate, past and future

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Sep 14, 2009 | popularity 3.1 / 5 (8) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- If the future scenarios being churned out by the world's most sophisticated computer climate models are on the mark, big changes are in store for Wisconsin's weather during the next century.


How do you say grid computing in Spanish?

Technology / Engineering

created Sep 10, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Encouraged by the success of grid computing in Europe, scientists there set out to help their Latin American colleagues develop grid capability. The result today is a thriving trans-Atlantic collaboration. ...


Weaknesses in dikes detected by space tech spin-off

Weaknesses in dikes detected by space tech spin-off

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Sep 04, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

A company from one of ESA's Business Incubation Centres has used space technology to develop a scanner to spot weaknesses in dike structures. It is being used to inspect dikes and dams on the Danube river ...


Changes in California's bird communities due to climate change

Biology / Ecology

created Sep 02, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

As much as half of California could be occupied by new bird communities by 2070 according to a new study by PRBO Conservation Science (PRBO) and partners. The publication entitled "Reshuffling of species with climate disruption: ...