The role of long-lived greenhouse gases as principal LW control knob that governs the global surface temperature for past and future climate change
The climate system of the Earth is endowed with a moderately strong greenhouse effect that is characterised by non-condensing greenhouse gases (GHGs) that provide the core radiative forcing. Of these, the most important is atmospheric CO2. There is a strong feedback contribution to the greenhouse ef...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Stockholm University Press
2013-11-01
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| Series: | Tellus: Series B, Chemical and Physical Meteorology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.tellusb.net/index.php/tellusb/article/download/19734/pdf_1 |
| _version_ | 1817987531391631360 |
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| author | Andrew A. Lacis James E. Hansen Gary L. Russell Valdar Oinas Jeffrey Jonas |
| author_facet | Andrew A. Lacis James E. Hansen Gary L. Russell Valdar Oinas Jeffrey Jonas |
| author_sort | Andrew A. Lacis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The climate system of the Earth is endowed with a moderately strong greenhouse effect that is characterised by non-condensing greenhouse gases (GHGs) that provide the core radiative forcing. Of these, the most important is atmospheric CO2. There is a strong feedback contribution to the greenhouse effect by water vapour and clouds that is unique in the solar system, exceeding the core radiative forcing due to the non-condensing GHGs by a factor of three. The significance of the non-condensing GHGs is that once they have been injected into the atmosphere, they remain there virtually indefinitely because they do not condense and precipitate from the atmosphere, their chemical removal time ranging from decades to millennia. Water vapour and clouds have only a short lifespan, with their distribution determined by the locally prevailing meteorological conditions, subject to Clausius–Clapeyron constraint. Although solar irradiance is the ultimate energy source that powers the terrestrial greenhouse effect, there has been no discernable long-term trend in solar irradiance since precise monitoring began in the late 1970s. This leaves atmospheric CO2 as the effective control knob driving the current global warming trend. Over geological time scales, volcanoes are the principal source of atmospheric CO2, and the weathering of rocks is the principal sink, with the biosphere participating as both a source and a sink. The problem at hand is that human industrial activity is causing atmospheric CO2, to increase by 2 ppm yr−1, whereas the interglacial rate has been 0.005 ppm yr−1. This is a geologically unprecedented rate to turn the CO2 climate control knob. This is causing the global warming that threatens the global environment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T00:23:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-28e6211540c04e59b7b390bb54dbbd0d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1600-0889 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T00:23:30Z |
| publishDate | 2013-11-01 |
| publisher | Stockholm University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Tellus: Series B, Chemical and Physical Meteorology |
| spelling | doaj.art-28e6211540c04e59b7b390bb54dbbd0d2022-12-22T02:22:52ZengStockholm University PressTellus: Series B, Chemical and Physical Meteorology1600-08892013-11-0165012510.3402/tellusb.v65i0.19734The role of long-lived greenhouse gases as principal LW control knob that governs the global surface temperature for past and future climate changeAndrew A. LacisJames E. HansenGary L. RussellValdar OinasJeffrey JonasThe climate system of the Earth is endowed with a moderately strong greenhouse effect that is characterised by non-condensing greenhouse gases (GHGs) that provide the core radiative forcing. Of these, the most important is atmospheric CO2. There is a strong feedback contribution to the greenhouse effect by water vapour and clouds that is unique in the solar system, exceeding the core radiative forcing due to the non-condensing GHGs by a factor of three. The significance of the non-condensing GHGs is that once they have been injected into the atmosphere, they remain there virtually indefinitely because they do not condense and precipitate from the atmosphere, their chemical removal time ranging from decades to millennia. Water vapour and clouds have only a short lifespan, with their distribution determined by the locally prevailing meteorological conditions, subject to Clausius–Clapeyron constraint. Although solar irradiance is the ultimate energy source that powers the terrestrial greenhouse effect, there has been no discernable long-term trend in solar irradiance since precise monitoring began in the late 1970s. This leaves atmospheric CO2 as the effective control knob driving the current global warming trend. Over geological time scales, volcanoes are the principal source of atmospheric CO2, and the weathering of rocks is the principal sink, with the biosphere participating as both a source and a sink. The problem at hand is that human industrial activity is causing atmospheric CO2, to increase by 2 ppm yr−1, whereas the interglacial rate has been 0.005 ppm yr−1. This is a geologically unprecedented rate to turn the CO2 climate control knob. This is causing the global warming that threatens the global environment.www.tellusb.net/index.php/tellusb/article/download/19734/pdf_1carbon dioxidegreenhouse effectradiative forcingclimate changeglobal warming |
| spellingShingle | Andrew A. Lacis James E. Hansen Gary L. Russell Valdar Oinas Jeffrey Jonas The role of long-lived greenhouse gases as principal LW control knob that governs the global surface temperature for past and future climate change Tellus: Series B, Chemical and Physical Meteorology carbon dioxide greenhouse effect radiative forcing climate change global warming |
| title | The role of long-lived greenhouse gases as principal LW control knob that governs the global surface temperature for past and future climate change |
| title_full | The role of long-lived greenhouse gases as principal LW control knob that governs the global surface temperature for past and future climate change |
| title_fullStr | The role of long-lived greenhouse gases as principal LW control knob that governs the global surface temperature for past and future climate change |
| title_full_unstemmed | The role of long-lived greenhouse gases as principal LW control knob that governs the global surface temperature for past and future climate change |
| title_short | The role of long-lived greenhouse gases as principal LW control knob that governs the global surface temperature for past and future climate change |
| title_sort | role of long lived greenhouse gases as principal lw control knob that governs the global surface temperature for past and future climate change |
| topic | carbon dioxide greenhouse effect radiative forcing climate change global warming |
| url | http://www.tellusb.net/index.php/tellusb/article/download/19734/pdf_1 |
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