Contents

• Preface

• Acknowledgements

• 1. Description of the climate system and of components
  • 1.1 Introduction
  • 1.2 The atmosphere
    • 1.2.1 Composition and temperature
    • 1.2.2 General circulation of the atmosphere
    • 1.2.3 Precipitation
  • 1.3 The ocean
    • 1.3.1 Composition and properties
    • 1.3.2 Oceanic circulation
    • 1.3.3 Temperature and salinity
  • 1.4 The cryosphere
    • 1.4.1 Components of the cryosphere
    • 1.4.2 Properties of the cryosphere
  • 1.5 The land surface and the terrestrial biosphere
  • Cited references and further reading
  • Exercises
  • Web links
  
  
• 2. The Energy balance, hydrological and carbon cycles
  • 2.1 The Earth's energy budget
    • 2.1.1 The heat balance at the top of the atmosphere: a global view
    • 2.1.2 The "greenhouse" effect
    • 2.1.3 Present-day insolation at the top of the atmosphere
    • 2.1.4 The heat balance at the top of the atmosphere: geographical distribution
    • 2.1.5 Heat storage and transport
    • 2.1.6 Heat balance at the surface
  • 2.2 The hydrological cycle
  • 2.3 The carbon cycle
    • 2.3.1 Overview
    • 2.3.2 Oceanic carbon cycle
    • 2.3.3 Terrestrial carbon cycle
    • 2.3.4 Geological reservoirs
  • Cited references and further reading
  • Exercises
  • Web links
  
  
• 3. Modelling of the climate system
  • 3.1 Introduction
    • 3.1.1 What is a climate model ?
    • 3.1.2 Types of models
  • 3.2 A hierarchy of model
    • 3.2.1 Energy balance models
    • 3.2.2 Intermediate complexity models
    • 3.2.3 General circulation models
  • 3.3 Components of a climate model
    • 3.3.1 Atmosphere
    • 3.3.2 Ocean
    • 3.3.3 Sea ice
    • 3.3.4 Land surface
    • 3.3.5 Marine biogeochemistry
    • 3.3.6 Ice sheets
    • 3.3.7 Coupling between the components - Earth system models
  • 3.4 Numerical resolution of the equations
    • 3.4.1 Consistence, convergence and stability
    • 3.4.2 Time and space discretisations using finite differences
    • 3.4.3 Spectral representation and finite element methods
  • 3.5 Testing the validity of models
    • 3.5.1 Verification, validation, testing
    • 3.5.2 Evaluating model performance
  • Cited references and further reading
  • Exercises
  • Web links

• 4. The response of the climate system to a perturbation
  • 4.1 Climate forcing and climate response
    • 4.1.1 Notion of radiative forcing
    • 4.1.2 Major radiative forcings
    • 4.1.3 Equilibrium response of the climate system - a definition of feedback
    • 4.1.4 Transient response of the climate system
  • 4.2 Direct physical feedbacks
    • 4.2.1 Water vapour feedback and lapse rate feedback
    • 4.2.2 Cloud feedback
    • 4.2.3 Cryospheric feedbacks
  • 4.3 Geochemical, biogeochemical and biogeophysical feedbacks
    • 4.3.1 The carbonate compensation
    • 4.3.2 Interaction between plate tectonics, climate and the carbon cycle
    • 4.3.3 Interactions between climate and the terrestrial biosphere
  • Cited references and further reading
  • Exercises
  • Web links

• 5. Brief history of climate: causes and mechanisms
  • 5.1 Introduction
  • 5.2 Internal climate variability
    • 5.2.1 El Niño-Southern Oscillation
    • 5.2.2 The North Atlantic Oscillation
    • 5.2.3 The Southern Annular Mode
  • 5.3 The climate since the Earth's formation
    • 5.3.1 Precambrian climate
    • 5.3.2 Phanerozoic climate
    • 5.3.3 Cenozoic climate
  • 5.4 The last million years: glacial interglacial cycles
    • 5.4.1 Variations in orbital parameters and insolation
    • 5.4.2 The orbital theory of paleoclimates
    • 5.4.3 Glacial-interglacial variations in the atmospheric CO2 concentration
  • 5.5 The Holocene and the last 1000 years
    • 5.5.1 The current interglacial
    • 5.5.2 The last 1000 years
    • 5.5.3 The last century
  • Cited references and further reading
  • Exercises
  • Web links
  
  
• 6. Future climate changes
  • 6.1 Emission scenarios
    • 6.1.1 The purpose of the scenarios and scenario development
    • 6.1.2 Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES)
    • 6.1.3 Representative concentration pathways (RCPs)
    
    
  • 6.2 Climate projections for the 21st century
    • 6.2.1 Changes in global mean surface temperature
    • 6.2.2 The spatial distribution of surface temperature and precipitation changes
    • 6.2.3 Changes in the ocean and sea ice
    • 6.2.4 Changes in the carbon cycle and climate-carbon feedbacks
    
    
  • 6.3 Long-term climate changes
    • 6.3.1 The carbon cycle
    • 6.3.2 Sea level and ice sheets

• Supplementary information
  • List of symbols and acronyms
  • Glossary