Temperature Response to Increased Atmospheric CO2 (10 mb)Temperature Response to Increased Atmospheric CO2
Description:
This animation illustrates the changes in surface air temperature that result from increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The results of this simulation are derived from a comprehensive numerical model of the Earth's climate system developed at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. In these simulations, atmospheric carbon dioxide increases at 1% per year (compounded), starting in the year 2000. The increase is continued until the level of CO2 has quadrupled, which occurs after 140 years. After this point, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are held constant, though the temperature continues to increase.
The colored shading represents the difference in the surface air temperature between the simulation with increased CO2 and a control simulation using the same model but holding today's levels of atmospheric CO2 steady. As indicated by the shading, warming is more rapid over the continental regions than over oceanic regions, and is larger in polar regions than at lower latitudes. Note that the warming trend continues well past the time at which CO2 concentrations stop increasing. This delayed warming is due to the influence of the world's oceans, which store and release heat over very long periods of time. The model also indicates that such warming would cause the sea level to rise by almost 6 feet and temperatures could increase almost 30°F in places. Colors are mapped to a data range of - 10° F to 30° F
Notable Features:
- Temperature continues to rise after 2140, when CO2 production stops
- Land warms faster than the ocean
- Northern Hemisphere warms more dramatically than Southern Hemisphere
Data Category
Major: Models and Simulations
Keywords:
GFDL, CO2, global warming, temperature
| Data Set Name | GFDL CO2x4 |
| Data Set Source | Manabe and Stouffer |
| Data Set Developer | NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory |
| Visualization Developer | Hans Vahlenkamp, NOAA/GFDL |
| Audio | /data/d1/audio/wav_tracks/co2x4.wav /shared/sos/media/audio/CoupeStudios/Music/ClimateChange.mp3 |
| Data Set Use | Presented for the White House Conference on Global Climate Change on October 6, 1997. |