Climate Change Modeling Methodology

About this book

The Earth's average temperature has risen by 1.4°F over the past century, and computer models project that it will rise much more over the next hundred years, with significant impacts on weather, climate, and human society. Many climate scientists attribute these increases to the buildup of greenhouse gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels and to the anthropogenic production of short-lived climate pollutants. Climate Change Modeling Methodologies: Selected Entries from the Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology provides readers with an introduction to the tools and analysis techniques used by climate change scientists to interpret the role of these forcing agents on climate. Readers will also gain a deeper understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of these models and how to test and assess them. The contributions include a glossary of key terms and a concise definition of the subject for each topic, as well as recommendations for sources of more detailed information. Features authoritative, peer-reviewed contributions on the development and use of contemporary methods in climate change science Provides insight into the construction, assessment, and testing of climate models Covers individual component models for the atmosphere, ocean, land, and ice, and discusses their contribution to an example of climate change in monsoon systems Discusses how climate change models can shed light on the changing climate of the past and on possible shifts in the future