Climate Sensitivity and Feedbacks: Advances and New Paradigms

Session ID#: 119399

Session Description:
A major goal of current climate research is to reduce uncertainty in metrics of large-scale forced climate responses, such as the Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity (ECS), the eventual warming in response to doubled atmospheric CO2. The ECS is estimated at 1.5—4.5 K, a range largely due to clouds and other moist processes. These processes are deeply intertwined and are linked to changes in societally important factors such as precipitation. This session explores recent advances in understanding large-scale climate response to climate forcings. We welcome submissions on theory, observations and modelling studies of climate feedbacks, climate sensitivity, and climate responses of precipitation and large-scale dynamics, especially those exploring novel evaluation techniques such as emergent constraints, and new ways of thinking about processes that govern climate's response to external forcing.
Index Terms:

3305 Climate change and variability [ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES]
3310 Clouds and cloud feedbacks [ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES]
3337 Global climate models [ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES]
3360 Remote sensing [ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES]


Primary Convener:  Chad William Thackeray, University of California Los Angeles, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Los Angeles, CA, United States
Conveners:  Mark Richardson, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, Maria Rugenstein, Colorado State University, Department of Atmospheric Science, Fort Collins, United States and Daniel McCoy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, United States
Primary Liaison:  Chad William Thackeray, University of California Los Angeles, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Los Angeles, CA, United States
See more of: Atmospheric Sciences