Temperature-Profile/Lapse-Rate Feedback: A Misunderstood Feedback of the Climate System
Affiliation(s)
Climate Research Group, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, USA. Aviation Weather Center, National Weather Service, Kansas City, USA. I. M. Systems Group, Inc. at EMC/NCEP/NOAA, College Park, USA.
Climate Research Group, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, USA. Aviation Weather Center, National Weather Service, Kansas City, USA. I. M. Systems Group, Inc. at EMC/NCEP/NOAA, College Park, USA.
ABSTRACT
This study shows that the heretofore assumed condition for no temperature-profile (TP)/lapse-rate feedback, for all altitudes z, or , in fact yields a negative feedback. The correct condition for no TP feedback is for all z, where Ts is the surface temperature. This condition translates into a uniform increase (decrease) in lapse rate with altitude for an increase (decrease) in Ts. The temperature changes caused by a change in solar irradiance and/or planetary albedo satisfy the condition for no TP feedback. The temperature changes caused by a change in greenhouse gas concentration do not satisfy the condition for no TP feedback and, instead, yield a positive feedback.
This study shows that the heretofore assumed condition for no temperature-profile (TP)/lapse-rate feedback, for all altitudes z, or , in fact yields a negative feedback. The correct condition for no TP feedback is for all z, where Ts is the surface temperature. This condition translates into a uniform increase (decrease) in lapse rate with altitude for an increase (decrease) in Ts. The temperature changes caused by a change in solar irradiance and/or planetary albedo satisfy the condition for no TP feedback. The temperature changes caused by a change in greenhouse gas concentration do not satisfy the condition for no TP feedback and, instead, yield a positive feedback.
Cite this paper
M. E. Schlesinger, C. Bruce Entwistle and B. Li, "Temperature-Profile/Lapse-Rate Feedback: A Misunderstood Feedback of the Climate System," Atmospheric and Climate Sciences, Vol. 2 No. 4, 2012, pp. 474-478. doi: 10.4236/acs.2012.24041.
M. E. Schlesinger, C. Bruce Entwistle and B. Li, "Temperature-Profile/Lapse-Rate Feedback: A Misunderstood Feedback of the Climate System," Atmospheric and Climate Sciences, Vol. 2 No. 4, 2012, pp. 474-478. doi: 10.4236/acs.2012.24041.
References
[1] R. D. Cess, “Global Climate Change: An Investigation of Atmospheric Feedback Mechanisms,” Tellus, Vol. 27, No. 3, 1975, pp. 193-198. doi:10.1111/j.2153-3490.1975.tb01672.x [2] A. Arking, “The Radiative Effects of Clouds and Their Impact on Climate,” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 72, No. 6, 1991, pp. 795-813. doi:10.1175/1520-0477(1991)072<0795:TREOCA>2.0.CO;2 [3] C. B. Entwistle, “Analysis of the Nature of Zero Feedback in the Climate System Using a Multilayer Radiative-Convective Model,” M.S. Thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana and Champaign, 1992, p. 201. [4] M. E. Schlesinger, “Feedback Analysis of Results from Energy Balance and Radiative-Convective Models,” In: M. C. MacCracken and F. M. Luther, Eds., The Potential Climatic Effects of Increasing Carbon Dioxide, U. S. Department of Energy, 1985, pp. 280-319. [5] M. E. Schlesinger, “Quantitative Analysis of Feedbacks in Climate Model Simulations of CO2-Induced Warming,” In: M. E. Schlesinger, Ed., Greenhouse-Gas-Induced Climatic Change: A Critical Appraisal of Simulations and Observations, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1988, pp. 653-737. [6] M. E. Schlesinger, “Quantitative Analysis of Feedbacks in Climate Model Simulations,” In A. Berger, R. E. Dickinson and J. W. Kidson, Eds., Understanding Climate Change, American Geophysical Union, Washington DC 1989, pp. 177-187. doi:10.1029/GM052p0177 [7] G. Myhre, E. J. Highwood, K. P. Shine and F. Stordal, “New Estimates of Radiative Forcing Due to Well Mixed Greenhouse Gases,” Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 25, No. 14, 1998, pp. 2715-2718. doi:10.1029/98GL01908
[1] R. D. Cess, “Global Climate Change: An Investigation of Atmospheric Feedback Mechanisms,” Tellus, Vol. 27, No. 3, 1975, pp. 193-198. doi:10.1111/j.2153-3490.1975.tb01672.x [2] A. Arking, “The Radiative Effects of Clouds and Their Impact on Climate,” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 72, No. 6, 1991, pp. 795-813. doi:10.1175/1520-0477(1991)072<0795:TREOCA>2.0.CO;2 [3] C. B. Entwistle, “Analysis of the Nature of Zero Feedback in the Climate System Using a Multilayer Radiative-Convective Model,” M.S. Thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana and Champaign, 1992, p. 201. [4] M. E. Schlesinger, “Feedback Analysis of Results from Energy Balance and Radiative-Convective Models,” In: M. C. MacCracken and F. M. Luther, Eds., The Potential Climatic Effects of Increasing Carbon Dioxide, U. S. Department of Energy, 1985, pp. 280-319. [5] M. E. Schlesinger, “Quantitative Analysis of Feedbacks in Climate Model Simulations of CO2-Induced Warming,” In: M. E. Schlesinger, Ed., Greenhouse-Gas-Induced Climatic Change: A Critical Appraisal of Simulations and Observations, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1988, pp. 653-737. [6] M. E. Schlesinger, “Quantitative Analysis of Feedbacks in Climate Model Simulations,” In A. Berger, R. E. Dickinson and J. W. Kidson, Eds., Understanding Climate Change, American Geophysical Union, Washington DC 1989, pp. 177-187. doi:10.1029/GM052p0177 [7] G. Myhre, E. J. Highwood, K. P. Shine and F. Stordal, “New Estimates of Radiative Forcing Due to Well Mixed Greenhouse Gases,” Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 25, No. 14, 1998, pp. 2715-2718. doi:10.1029/98GL01908