CLIMATE MODELS -- Review sheet for Kling lectures in Global Change

Climate Models

Take home message:

Prediction into the future is difficult,  but necessary…

Main Terms to understand:

Little Ice Age

Sunspot number

Climate forcings

Emissions Scenarios

Main Concepts and Questions:

·         How has the climate changed in the very recent past?

·         What caused this most recent climate change?

·         What is the most important information required by climate models in order to make predictions into the future?

·         Are sunspots able to explain the recent climate changes we have seen? Why or why not?

·         Is volcanic activity able to explain the recent trends in climate on Earth? Why or why not?

·         Explain how we know that the current climate models operate well, and how we know that they are likely to be make robust predictions of climate in the future.

·         Explain why the predictions of global temperature increase for the end of this century (2100) are so variable, from 2-6 deg C?