Greenhouse Gases, Aerosols and Reducing Future Climate Uncertainties |
| |
| Authors: | Hervé Le Treut |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
|
| |
| Abstract: | The past record of global earth surface temperatures is unable to offer quantitative evidence about the amplitude of climate sensitivity, due to the competing effects of long-lived greenhouse gases and short-lived aerosols. This factor constitutes one of the reasons why uncertainties about climate sensitivity have remained almost unchanged for more than 30 years, and it is also limiting our current capacity to propose reliable climate projections for the coming century. This paper offers a short review of the studies that have dealt with this issue. A number of approaches aim at a process-oriented diagnostic of current models. These studies are in constant progress since the launch of remote-sensing instruments, such as those from the A-train satellite constellation. Past climate fluctuations may also offer some limited possibilities to discriminate the effects of greenhouse gases and aerosols. There is therefore a real hope that climate projections may eventually become more accurate, which would be extremely useful in monitoring global warming during the next decades. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ |
|
