ALBERT

Notes: Numerous studies have underscored the importance of terrestrial ecosystems as an integral component of the Earth's climate system. This realization has already led to efforts to link simple equilibrium vegetation models with Atmospheric General Circulation Models through iterative coupling procedures. While these linked models have pointed to several possible climate–vegetation feedback mechanisms, they have been limited by two shortcomings: (i) they only consider the equilibrium response of vegetation to shifting climatic conditions and therefore cannot be used to explore transient interactions between climate and vegetation; and (ii) the representations of vegetation processes and land-atmosphere exchange processes are still treated by two separate models and, as a result, may contain physical or ecological inconsistencies.Here we present, as a proof concept, a more tightly integrated framework for simulating global climate and vegetation interactions. The prototype coupled model consists of the GENESIS (version 2) Atmospheric General Circulation Model and the IBIS (version 1) Dynamic Global Vegetation Model. The two models are directly coupled through a common treatment of land surface and ecophysiological processes, which is used to calculate the energy, water, carbon, and momentum fluxes between vegetation, soils, and the atmosphere. On one side of the interface, GENESIS simulates the physics and general circulation of the atmosphere. On the other side, IBIS predicts transient changes in the vegetation structure through changes in the carbon balance and competition among plants within terrestrial ecosystems.As an initial test of this modelling framework, we perform a 30 year simulation in which the coupled model is supplied with modern CO2 concentrations, observed ocean temperatures, and modern insolation. In this exploratory study, we run the GENESIS atmospheric model at relatively coarse horizontal resolution (4.5° latitude by 7.5° longitude) and IBIS at moderate resolution (2° latitude by 2° longitude). We initialize the models with globally uniform climatic conditions and the modern distribution of potential vegetation cover. While the simulation does not fully reach equilibrium by the end of the run, several general features of the coupled model behaviour emerge.We compare the results of the coupled model against the observed patterns of modern climate. The model correctly simulates the basic zonal distribution of temperature and precipitation, but several important regional biases remain. In particular, there is a significant warm bias in the high northern latitudes, and cooler than observed conditions over the Himalayas, central South America, and north-central Africa. In terms of precipitation, the model simulates drier than observed conditions in much of South America, equatorial Africa and Indonesia, with wetter than observed conditions in northern Africa and China.Comparing the model results against observed patterns of vegetation cover shows that the general placement of forests and grasslands is roughly captured by the model. In addition, the model simulates a roughly correct separation of evergreen and deciduous forests in the tropical, temperate and boreal zones. However, the general patterns of global vegetation cover are only approximately correct: there are still significant regional biases in the simulation. In particular, forest cover is not simulated correctly in large portions of central Canada and southern South America, and grasslands extend too far into northern Africa.These preliminary results demonstrate the feasibility of coupling climate models with fully dynamic representations of the terrestrial biosphere. Continued development of fully coupled climate-vegetation models will facilitate the exploration of a broad range of global change issues, including the potential role of vegetation feedbacks within the climate system, and the impact of climate variability and transient climate change on the terrestrial biosphere.

Notes: [Auszug] IN a recent paper Kukla and Gavin of the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory1 examine recent and historical data on the extent of polar ice and snow, hoping to detect changes that might be a signal of warming caused by the build-up of CO2 in the atmosphere. This and other new work which looks not ...

Notes: [Auszug] We report three-dimensional calculations of regional and global climatic effects of smoke generated by a large-scale nuclear war. Tropospheric aerosols of absorption optical depth 3, when injected into Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes and maintained for 1–3 weeks, cause intense radiative ...

Notes: [Auszug] COVEY AND CO-WORKERS REPLY - Dr Singer's comments on the plausibility of "nuclear winter" deserve serious consideration, perhaps in more detail than limited space allows. We emphasize again that the work reported in our article1 was designed to examine how a three-dimensional climate model would ...

Notes: [Auszug] Global circulation model simulations are reported in which smoke created by fires following a large nuclear war is allowed to move with the model winds. A substantial fraction of smoke generated over NATO and Warsaw Pact territories in July moves rapidly upward and across the Equator in less than ...

Notes: [Auszug] SIR-The recent paper by Golding and colleagues1 and accompanying News and Views commentary by Emanuel2 appear to represent an awakening of interest among mesoscale meteorologists in the problem of 'nuclear winter'. From Emanuel's characterization of the calculation of Golding et al. as "a welcome ...

Notes: [Auszug] THE presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has long been known to affect climate through the so-called 'greenhouse' effect. The present rate of growth of atmospheric CO2 concentration due to fossil fuel burning will result in a doubling of the CO2 level sometime in the next century and this ...

Notes: [Auszug] The climatic effects of a hypothetical large nuclear war have been simulated by an increasingly comprehensive series of global numerical models. Short-term climatic effects are now found to be less severe than predicted by early studies but the chronic long-term atmospheric effects remain ...

Notes: [Auszug] The global climate model15 combines atmospheric general circulation with transfer of energy, moisture and momentum between the atmosphere and oceans and land surfaces. The atmospheric general circulation model is derived from the National Center for Atmospheric Research community climate model ...