Monday, September 5, 2011

Climate Forcings

Climate forcings are factors that drive the climate system.  There are many forcings and each has a different impact on the climate.  The most significant forces over the last millennium were the sun and volcanic activity.  Recently CO2 concentration has become a significant force as well.  Intensity of the force is typically measured in Watts per square meter.  Forces can also be classified as positive or negative forces.  Positive forces have a warming effect while negative forces cool.

Another important concept is the earth's albedo.  This is the reflection coefficient of the earth's surface.  It is a ratio of the reflected radiation to the radiation incident on the surface.  The larger this number the more radiation that is being absorbed thus heating up the earth's surface.

Sources:
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/globalwarming/gw-forcing.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albedo

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