How radiative fluxes are affected by cloud and particle characteristics
Monday, April 20, 2015 - 07:50
in Earth & Climate
To understand how the Earth will change as emissions from fossil fuel combustion change, climate models calculate a complex and changing mix of clouds and emissions that interact with solar energy. To narrow the range of possible answers from these calculations in the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5), researchers analyzed the effect of 16 parameters, proven numerical stand-ins for atmospheric processes, on the flux of energy at the top of the atmosphere. They found that the flux of energy entering and exiting the top of the atmosphere is the main driver of surface temperature change.