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| Titel |
Energetics of climate models: Net energy balance and meridional enthalpy transport |
| VerfasserIn |
Valerio Lucarini, Francesco Ragone |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2011
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 13 (2011) |
| Datensatznummer |
250056168
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| Zusammenfassung |
| We analyze the PCMDI/CMIP3 simulations performed by climate models (CMs) using
pre-industrial and SRESA1B scenarios. Relatively large biases are present for most CMs
when global energy budgets and when the atmospheric, oceanic, and land budgets are
considered. Apparently, the biases do not result from transient effects, but depend on the
imperfect closure of the energy cycle in the fluid components and on inconsistencies over
land. Therefore, the planetary emission temperature is underestimated. This may explain the
CMs’ cold bias. In the pre-industrial scenario, CMs agree on the location in the mid-latitudes
of the peaks of the meridional atmospheric enthalpy transport, while large discrepancies
exist on the intensity. Disagreements on the location and intensity of the oceanic
transport peaks are serious. With increased CO2 concentration, a small poleward
shift of the peak and an increase in the intensity of the atmospheric transport of up
to 10% are detected in both hemispheres. Instead, most CMs feature a decrease
in the oceanic transport intensity in the northern hemisphere and an equatorward
shift of the peak in both hemispheres. The Bjerkens compensation mechanism is
active both on climatological and interannual time scales. The peak of the total
meridional transport is typically around 35° in both hemispheres and scenarios, whereas
disagreements on the intensity are relevant. With increased CO2 concentration, the total
transport increases by up to 10%, thus contributing to polar amplification. Advances
in the representation of physical processes are definitely needed for providing a
self-consistent representation of climate as a non-equilibrium thermodynamical system. |
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