Abstract
Feedback occurs between many components of the climate system, and makes the study of climate very difficult. A modeling approach is presented in which feedbacks are represented specifically. Analysis of very simple models shows how feedback between two components affects their behavior; positive feedback increases persistence, and can produce climatic changes even without changes in external forcing. In any quantitative study, the magnitudes of all relevant feedbacks must be known accurately. As an example, it is shown how the effect of CO2 on global temperature must depend greatly on the feedback between global temperature and ice extent.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Budyko, M. I.: 1977, ‘On Present-day Climatic Changes’, Tellus 29, 193–204.
Kutzbach, J. E., Chervin, R. M., and Houghton, D. D.: 1977, 'Response of the NCAR General Circulation Model to Prescribed Changes in Ocean Surface Temperature, Part I: Mid-Latitude Changes, J. Atmos. Sci., 34, 1200–1213.
Lorenz, E. N.: 1970, ‘Climatic Change as a Mathematical Problem’, J. Appl. Met. 9, 325–329.
Rowntree, P. R.: 1972, ‘The Influence of Tropical East Pacific Ocean Temperatures on the Atmosphere’, Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. S. 98, 290–321.
Schneider, S. H., Washington, W. M., and Chervin, R. M.: 1978, ‘Cloudiness as a climatic feedback mechanism: Effects on cloud amounts of prescribed global and regional surface temperature changes in the NCAR GCM’, J. Atmos. Sci. 35, 2207–2221.
Weare, B. C., Navato, A. R., and Newell, R. E.: 1976, ‘Empirical Orthogonal Analysis of Pacific Sea Surface Temperatures’, J. Phys. Oceanog. 6, 671–678.
Wright, P. B.: 1977, ‘The Southern Oscillation - Patterns and mechanisms of the teleconnections and the persistence’, HIG-77–13, Hawaii Inst. Geophysics, Honolulu.
Wright, P. B.: 1979, ‘Persistence of rainfall anomalies in the central Pacific’, Nature 277, 371–374.
Wright, P. B.: 1980, ‘A simple model for simulating regional short-term climatic changes’, submitted to Monthly Weather Review.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wright, P.B. An approach to modeling climate based on feedback relationships. Climatic Change 2, 283–298 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00137992
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00137992