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The Climate System Notes
The Climate System Notes
Contents:
Lecture 1: Page 1
Lecture 2: Page 6
Lecture 3: Page 12
Lecture 4:
Lecture 5:
Lecture 6:
Lecture 7:
Lecture 8:
Lecture 9:
Lecture 1
Key Points:
• Appreciate the scientific robustness of climate science and how it has changed.
• Be able to define climate change and variability.
• Understand the role of the IPCC.
• Be aware of the impacts and challenges of climate change in Australia.
Definitions:
Climate: “The statistical properties of the atmosphere (Mean, Variance, Extremes)”
Climate Change: Climate change refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be
identified (e.g., by using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its
properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Climate
change may be due to natural internal processes or external forcing’s, OR to persistent
anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use.”
Climate variability: Climate variability refers to variations in the mean state and other
statistics of the climate (such as standard deviations, the occurrence of extremes, etc.) on all
spatial and temporal scales beyond that of individual weather events. Variability may be due
to natural internal processes within the climate system (internal variability), or to variations
in natural or anthropogenic external forcing (external variability).”
Appreciate the scientific robustness of climate science and how it has changed:
• First known establishment was in 1450. Med evil scholars and farmers predicted
climate. They would use a solar base calendar (seen as first climate model), and it
was designed to help with agricultural production.
• Climatology began as the observation and description of the weather on
subcontinental and continental scales.
• Explorers would look at similar continents latitude to estimate the climate Eg.
flipping and putting Australia over Africa to determine Australia’s climate. This led to
the creation of the Atlas (seen as second climate model).
• After these climatologists began making maps of the world. Before this it was mainly
observation and speculation prior to the scientific age (18-19 th Century)
• Devices for measuring and studying weather were invented, which enabled
systematic climate records
• John Tindall, in 1861 conducted an experiment which showed that water vapour,
carbon dioxide and some other trace gases (greenhouse gases) where transparent to
light but didn’t absorb heat. This led to the coining of global warming and the
greenhouse effect. This old science was based on laboratory experiments and known
physics principles.
Any human induced effect on climate will be superimposed on the background "noise" of
natural climate variability.
Assessments of observed parameter trends over time using statistical significance tests are
needed to detect change and to attribute the contribution of human related warming.
Detection of climate change is the process of demonstrating that climate has changed in
some defined statistical sense, without providing a reason for that change.
Attribution of causes of climate change is the process of establishing the most likely causes
for the detected change with some defined level of confidence.”
In the most recent report (AR6), released in September 2021 the urgency in language is
clear. Huge difference from beginning reports. It clear now that these changes were human
driven.
Impacts and challenges of climate change in Australia:
Climate variability and Human Influence on the Atmosphere during the Industrial Era:
Mitigation: Implementing policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance sinks of
greenhouse gases
Lecture 2
Key Points:
• Understand how long and short-wave radiation are generated in the climate system
and they are cycled in the climate system and can be explained by Planck’s law.
• Know the Stefan-Boltzmann relationship between emitted energy and temperature.
• Appreciate the spatial distribution of radiation and the consequence for weather and
climate.
Electromagnetic radiation:
What emits e-m radiation?
• All bodies that possess energy [i.e. whose temperatures are > 0 Kelvin (-273.2 oC)]
emit radiation.
• Efficiency of emission is dependent on its emissivity (
• Where a body emits the maximum radiation for its temperature it is called a black
body. (Black bodies have an emissivity of 1)
• Less efficient radiators have varying between 0 and 1 (i.e. road 0.95 and soils 0.95-
0.90).
• E-M radiation has a
continuum of wavelengths.
Spectrum of Electromagnetic
Radiation:
Planck’s Law:
• Is the general law that allows us to show the complete wavelength distribution of
radiant energy from black bodies at different temperatures.
• Shows that, irrespective of temperature, the spectral distribution of radiation is
given by a characteristic Planck’s curve, although the total energy emitted, and its
spectral (wavelength) composition may be very different.
Stefan-Boltzmann’s Law:
• Total Energy emitted (E) by a black body is related to its
absolute (Kelvin) temperature (T) by:
E = T4
• Where is the Stefan-Boltzmann proportionality constant (5.67 x 10-8) m 2 kg s-1). E
is in W m-2.
• For non-black bodies a value (between 0 - unity) for emissivity ( must be included
• This states that the amount of radiation emitted by a body is proportional to the
fourth power of its absolute temperature
• If we are to sum up all the energy under the curve, we have the total amount of
energy associated with that particular body.
Wien’s Displacement Law: States the hotter the object the shorter the peak wavelengths of
radiation.
Radiation:
• Radiation from the Sun (0.15 - 4 m) and from the Earth (4 - 100 m) are
conveniently distinct wavelengths
• Atmospheric scientists have therefore designated the radiation emitted by the sun to
be solar or short-wave radiation, and that emitted within the Earth-atmosphere
system to be terrestrial or long wave radiation
Spectra:
• Consider the ideal black body spectra
• At the surface we see this has been modified by atmosphere
• Total absorption in part by water,
aerosols, GHG, etc.
• Used to derive atmospheric
composition
Energy
equilibrium:
Atmosphere
and surface
not in radiative equilibrium but in
energy equilibrium
Spatial distribution of energy:
• Utilised satellite and spectral scanner
• Net radiation has been measured by satellites
• Over a period of time, the peak of radiation moves from North to South (summer to
winter)
• The amount of energy absorbed in the oceans is higher than it is on the land because
the water is darker than the land surface in general, therefore it tends to absorb
more energy (lower albedo)
Radiative Forcing:
“The radiative forcing of the surface-troposphere system due to the perturbation in or the
introduction of an agent is the change in net downward radiative flux at the tropopause
AFTER allowing for stratospheric temperatures to readjust, but with the surface and
tropospheric temperatures and state held fixed at the unperturbed values”
Feedbacks (L8)
• Atmospheric water
• Ice/albedo
• Cloud
• Vegetation change through warming
Volcanic Forcing:
Mainly negative forcing in the short term due to aerosol release
Aerosols:
• Exerts a forcing on troposphere and stratosphere.
• Aerosol’s scatter and absorb long and shortwave radiation and directly impact
radiative balance
• Three main species: sulphates, biomass burning, fossil fuel carbon (soot)
• Also indirect effects with clouds have negative forcing
• Counteracting effects
Contrails:
• Condensation trails— or contrails—are straight lines of ice crystals that form in the
wake of jet liners
• September 2001 temporarily halted U.S. commercial air traffic
• Track individual, persistent contrails from military aircraft
• Formation of cirrus clouds that covered more than 20,000 square kilometres
• During normal days, the area is crossed by thousands of jetliners
Anthropogenic impact on climate is 2.4 Watts per metre squared since 1750