Carbon-dioxide and climate: The importance of realistic geography in estimating the transient temperature response

• Published in: Science
• Other Authors: Thompson, Starley (Starley L. Thompson) (authoraut), Schneider, S. (S. H. Schneider) (authoraut)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Sea ice
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.217.4564.1031; http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d70001w6

Results obtained from a detailed air-sea-ice climate model for an instantaneous increase in the atmospheric carbon dioxide content are used to estimate the transient surface temperature response for several time-dependent carbon dioxide increase scenarios. The inclusion of realistic variations of land fraction and ocean mixing with latitude is found to limit the applicability of steady- state simulations as approximate guides to the actual time-dependent temperature response, particularly when the regional response is considered.