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6.5.3. F-C relationships

Love and Care
The change in net radiative flux (Wm-2) at the tropopause, F, associated with a particular greenhouse gas, is usually expressed as some function of the change in atmospheric concentration of that gas. Direct-effect F-C relationships are calculated using detailed radiative-convective models (chapter 4). The form of the F-C relationship depends […]
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2.2. Non-Radiative Forcing

Global Issues
Any change in the climate must involve some form of energy redistribution within the global climate system. Nevertheless, forcing agents which do not directly affect the energy budget of the atmosphere (the balance between incoming solar radiation and outgoing terrestrial radiation (see Figure 1.3), are considered to be non-radiative mechanisms […]
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2.9. Conclusion

Leadership
Both climate forcing mechanisms and the response of the climate system operate over a variety of different time scales. Response to forcing may be linear, quasi-linear or non-linear. Non-linearity in climatic change is the result of a complex interaction of feedback processes. It should be appreciated that different primary forcing […]
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2.5.2.3. Precession

Global Issues
The third orbital variation is that of precession. The Sun lies at one of the focal points of the Earth’s orbital ellipse. Due to the gravitational interaction of other planetary bodies in the solar system, primarily the Moon and the planet Jupiter, the perihelion (the point at which the Earth […]
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3.3.2.1. Stable isotope analysis

Great Stories
The basis for palaeoclimatic interpretations of variations in the stable isotope content of water molecules is that the vapour pressure of H216O is higher than that of H218O. Evaporation from a water body thus results in a vapour which is poorer in 18O than the initial water; conversely, the remaining […]
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Introduction

Great Stories
Global-climate-change.org.uk about the climate which is the long-term statistical expression of short-term weather. Climate can be defined qualitatively as “expected weather” (Bradley, 1985), or quantitatively by statistical expressions such as central tendencies and variances. The overall distribution of climatological parameters, bounded by weather extremes, defines the climatic variability. Changes in […]
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6.2. The Greenhouse Effect

Global Issues
Today a consensus amongst scientists is growing that mankind, through the emissions of greenhouse gases (section 1.2.1), is enhancing the Earth’s natural greenhouse effect (section 1.2.4). Before investigating the evidence for anthropogenic climate change and global warming, it is useful to review the nature of the Earth’s greenhouse effect. Solar […]
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1.2.1.1. Carbon dioxide

Great Stories
Carbon dioxide (CO2), the most important of these minor gases, is involved in a complex global cycle (see section 6.4.1). It is released from the interior of the Earth via volcanic eruptions, and by respiration, soil processes, combustion of carbon compounds and oceanic evaporation. Conversely, it is dissolved in the […]
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1.2.6. Summary

Leadership
It is the fluxes principally of energy but also of moisture, momentum and mass, which determine the state of our climate. Factors which influence these on a global scale may be regarded as causes of global climate change. So far, however, only the fluxes in and out of and within […]
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6.7.3.4. Cloudiness

Global Issues
Increased global cloudiness, as for increased global evaporation and precipitation, would be an expected consequence of higher global temperatures. Annual mean cloudiness has been found to have increased over Europe (6% / 80 years), Australia (8% / 80 years), the Indian sub-continent (7% / 50 years) and North America (10% […]
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