Publication Abstracts

Del Genio 1996

Del Genio, A.D., 1996: GCM implications for mechanisms determining cloud and water vapor feedbacks. In Climate Sensitivity to Radiative Perturbations: Physical Mechanisms and Their Validation. H. Le Treut, Ed., NATO ASI Series I: Global Environmental Change, vol. 34, Springer-Verlag, pp. 107-125, doi:10.1007/978-3-642-61053-0_9.

Predictions of the climate's sensitivity to external perturbations differ widely among the various general circulation models (GCMs) currently in use. In order to eventually gain confidence in the predictions of a subset of these models, several different approaches might be considered. Direct inference of climate feedbacks from current climate observations, for example via correlations of climate parameters with temperature, might be considered as a standard against which model sensitivity could be compared. This approach risks mistaking a dynamics dependence in the current climate for an intrinsic temperature dependence. Inferring sensitivity from long-term trends in climate parameters is another possible approach. But currently few such data sets exist, and when they do, the ambiguity presented by the unknown decadal natural variability of the climate system precludes a simple interpretation. One might wait instead for a consensus to be reached among climate GCMs about sensitivity, independent of observations. But different GCMs' may predict similar sensitivities for very different reasons. Finally, one might validate the mean state of GCMs against the many global data sets now becoming available. But validation of the mean state does not necessarily imply validation of the GCM's response to change, since model tuning can hide errors in model physics.

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BibTeX Citation

@inproceedings{de06200v,
  author={Del Genio, A. D.},
  editor={Le Treut, H.},
  title={GCM implications for mechanisms determining cloud and water vapor feedbacks},
  booktitle={Climate Sensitivity to Radiative Perturbations: Physical Mechanisms and Their Validation},
  year={1996},
  volume={34},
  pages={107--125},
  publisher={Springer-Verlag},
  address={Berlin},
  series={NATO ASI Series I: Global Environmental Change},
  doi={10.1007/978-3-642-61053-0_9},
}

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RIS Citation

TY  - CPAPER
ID  - de06200v
AU  - Del Genio, A. D.
ED  - Le Treut, H.
PY  - 1996
TI  - GCM implications for mechanisms determining cloud and water vapor feedbacks
BT  - Climate Sensitivity to Radiative Perturbations: Physical Mechanisms and Their Validation
T3  - NATO ASI Series I: Global Environmental Change
VL  - 34
SP  - 107
EP  - 125
DO  - 10.1007/978-3-642-61053-0_9
PB  - Springer-Verlag
CY  - Berlin
ER  -

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