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Sun & Cess 2004
Sun, M. and Cess, R.D. (2004). A procedure for evaluating feedback mechanisms in coupled atmosphere/ocean climate models. Geophysical Research Letters 31: doi: 10.1029/2004GL019876. issn: 0094-8276.

To understand inter-model differences in long-term simulations of climate change, as exist between coupled atmosphere/ocean general circulation models, it is necessary to first understand climate feedback mechanisms that operate within each of the various models. With this goal in mind, we have employed an 1870 to 1989 simulation, with prescribed increases in greenhouse gases, that was performed using the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate System Model Version 1, as a vehicle for determining two feedback processes operating within that model. These are cloud feedback and snow/ice albedo feedback. A prerequisite to evaluating feedback mechanisms is to first evaluate the direct radiative forcing, caused by the increasing greenhouse gases, which produces global warming by the model, and a procedure for doing this is presented. Cloud feedback is then evaluated by referencing the model's change in global-mean cloud-radiative forcing to the direct greenhouse-gas induced radiative forcing, and a comparable procedure is employed to determine snow/ice albedo feedback. This model produces a moderately strong negative cloud feedback and a modest positive snow/ice albedo feedback. But the main purpose of this study is to provide a reasonably simple procedure for determining both cloud feedback and snow/ice albedo feedback within coupled atmosphere/ocean GCMs.

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Abstract

Keywords
Global Change, Climate dynamics, Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Climatology, Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Convective processes, Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Radiative processes
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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