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gfdl on-line bibliography > 2005 citations
Observational and modeling evidence of climate change
| Karl, T., J. Lawrimore, and A. Leetmaa, 2005: Observational and modeling evidence of climate change. EM, 11-17. |
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Abstract:
Scientific understanding of past changes and variability in the Earth's
climate comes from the analysis of numerous sources of instrumental and
proxy data, as well as computer model simulations of the
Sun/Earth/atmosphere processes causing the changes. Subject to certain
limitations and uncertainties, instrumental data are available to assess
climate change and variability from the late 1800s to present. The study of
climate in the preceding centuries is possible primarily through paleoclimate reconstructions using proxy sources such as tree rings, marine
and lake sediments, ice cores, corals, and borehole records. Improvements in monitoring systems have been made with technological advances such as radar and satellite instruments, but climate research continues to be affected by a number of limitations, including inadequate spatial coverage of many variables and systems with inadequate instrument calibration methods. Model simulations of the Earth's changing climate over many centuries are possible by numerical solutions of time-dependent equations on supercomputers. The following are brief summaries of observed changes in the Earth's climate resulting from studies of instrumental and proxy records, as well as simulated climate from global climate models. We also include a discussion of inherent problems in observing systems and future solutions that will further enhance the scientific understanding of the Earth's climate. |