Environmental Science 3300F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Climate Sensitivity, Marine Ecosystem, Microscopic Scale

• School: Western University
• Department: Environmental Science
• Course: Environmental Science 3300F/G
• Professor: Ronald Martin

Document Summary

Intergovernmental panel on climate change: they review and asses most recent scientific, technical and socio-economic information produced worldwide relevant to climate change, the(cid:455) do(cid:374)"t actuall(cid:455) co(cid:374)duct a(cid:374)(cid:455) research, different viewpoints within scientific community are expressed within reports. Ipcc report timeline: published 5 assessment reports reviewing the latest climate science. First one was in 1990 , most recent is 2014. Climate models: mathematical representations of interactions between atmosphere, oceans, land surface, ice and sun to estimate future climate, more long term, up to 100 years, estimates trends rather than events, based on fundamentals of fluid dynamics. Impossible to run lab experiments to simulate future climate: only alternative is to develop realistic computer simulations that allow scientists to unravel complex interactions. Numerical modelling within climate models: began in 1960s. Some processes have an exact solution in mathematical terms (fluid dynamics) Some need approximate solutions obtained by numerical methods or parameterizations (cloud formations: we do(cid:374)"t ha(cid:448)e a(cid:374) e(cid:454)act (cid:373)athe(cid:373)atical (cid:449)a(cid:455) to deter(cid:373)i(cid:374)e this.