OA413, Climate Dynamics, Reference List

This list contains a mix of background reading and references to the material that we actually used. It is not meant to be exhaustive but tries to give a flavour of the development of ideas. The list is developing as the course proceeds.

 

General Reading

Peixoto, J. P., and A. H. Oort, 1992. Physics of Climate. American Institute of Physics, New York, 520pp.

The standard reference for the "observed" current climate, with loads of useful charts and diagrams. Comprehensive in its coverage of the atmosphere while a little dated on the ocean. Still, the first stop if you are looking for what is observed.

 

Stone, P. H., 1997. Global scale climate processes and climate sensitivity. Environmental Dynamics Series. V: Hydrometeorology and Climatology (M.Marani and R.Rigon, eds., Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Venice), 47-84.

A concise and lucid exposition by one of the masters in the field. Contains much of the atmospheric science and some oceanography covered here – indeed, this article is based in large part on a previous incarnation of this course.

 

Lindzen, R. S., 1994: Global dynamics and climate change. Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech., 26, 353-378.

A very insightful and original discussion of some fundamental elements of climate. Lindzen’s political position in the greenhouse debate should not prevent anyone from reading this paper.

 

Crowley, T. J., and G. R. North, 1991: Paleoclimatology. Oxford University Press, New York, 339pp.

The standard reference on processes and observations of paleoclimates, including many model results.

 

Kump, L. R., J. F. Kasting, and R. G. Crane, 1999: The Earth System. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 351 pp.

Much broader than what we dare take on here. Contains a number of gems – beautiful conceptual discussions of fundamental processes. However, Chapters 4 and 5 on atmospheric and oceanic circulations, respectively, contain some very serious errors and are not recommended. Use the Open University or Neil Wells’s book instead.

 

IPCC, 1996: Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group I to the Second Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, J. T. Houghton, L. G. Meira Filho, B. A. Callander, N. Harris, A. Kattenberg, and K. Maskell, Eds., Cambridge University Press, 572 pp.

IPCC, 2001: Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, J. T. Houghton, Y. Ding, D. J. Griggs, M. Noguer, P. J. v. d. Linden, X. Dai, K. Maskell, and C. A. Johnson, Eds., Cambridge University Press, 881 pp.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports are the definitive scientific source underlying policy and political discussions about climate change. Have defined the scientific consensus at least since the mid-1990s. Massive, but especially the "Summary for Policymakers" of the 2001 Report is very readable; available online from http://www.ipcc.ch/pub/reports.htm

(I refer here to the WGI Report Summary for Policymakers, not the Synthesis Report).

 

 

Houghton, J. T., 1997a: Global Warming: the complete briefing (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press, 251 pp.

Manageable overview of global warming. "IPCC Lite", non-technical.

 

Fleming, J. R., 1998: Historical Perspectives on Climate Change. Oxford University Press, 194 pp.

Fleming is a professional historian and covers the last four centuries. Fascinating.

 

Oreskes, N., K. Shrader-Frechette, and K. Belitz, 1994: Verification, validation, and confirmation of numerical models in the Earth Sciences. Science, 263, 641-646.

Provocative, thorough, and very lucid exposition of the philosophical underpinnings of "simulation-style models". Does not cover "process models".

 

Supplementary Reading

 

Wells, N. C., 1997: The Atmosphere and Ocean: A Physical Introduction. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 394pp.

An eminently readable while rigorous treatment. The ideal background reading for this course.

 

Houghton, J. T., 1997b: The Physics of Atmospheres (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press, 271 pp.

Introductory, covering in particular atmospheric radiation.

 

Wells, N. C., W. J. Gould, and A. E. S. Kemp, 1996: The role of ocean circulation in the changing climate. In Oceanography: An Illustrated Guide, C. P. Summerhays and S. A. Thorpe, eds., John Wiley & Sons, New York, 49-58.

A brief introduction to some of the topics covered here.

 

The Open University Course Team, 1989: Ocean Circulation. The Open University, Milton Keynes, 238pp.

Non-mathematical but very thorough. For the mathematically slightly faint-of-heart, to brush up on basic ocean dynamics.

 

Gill, A. E., 1982: Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics. Academic Press, London, 662pp.

The authority.

 

 

Atmospheric Observations

 

Peixoto and Oort (1992, op. cit.)

 

Trenberth, K. E., and A. Solomon, 1994: The global heat balance: heat transports in the atmosphere and ocean. Clim. Dyn., 10, 107-134.

Keith, D. W., 1995: Meridional energy transport: uncertainty in zonal means. Tellus, 47A, 30-44.

Modern observational analyses of atmospheric energy transport.

 

 

Energy Balance Models

 

Stone (1997, op. cit.)

 

Budyko, M. I., 1969: The effect of solar radiation variations on the climate of the earth. Tellus, 21, 611-619.

Sellers, W. D., 1969: A global climatic model based on the energy balance of the earth-atmosphere system. J. Appl. Meteor., 8, 392-400.

The classical papers on energy balance models and multiple states of relative ice-cover on Earth.

 

North, G. R., 1975: Theory of energy balance climate models. J. Atmos. Sci., 32, 2033-2043.

The definitive modern formulation of energy balance models.

 

Crafoord, C., and E. Källén, 1978: A note on the condition for existence of more than one steady-state solution in Budyko-Sellers type models. J. Atmos. Sci., 35, 1123-1125.

Presumably the simplest model showing multiple equilibria of this kind.

 

 

North, G. R., R. F. Cahalan, and J. A. Coakley, Jr., 1981: Energy balance climate models. Rev. Geophys. Space Phys., 19, 91-121.

A comprehensive review, including general discussions of stability and systems with random components. For the mathematically sophisticated.

 

 

Radiative-Convective Models

 

Houghton, J. T., (1997b, op. cit.)

 

 

 

Statistical-Dynamical Models

 

MacCracken, M. C., and S. J. Ghan, 1988: Design and use of zonally-averaged climate models. In Physically-Based Modelling and Simulation of Climate and Climatic Change – Part II, M. E. Schlesinger, ed., NATO ASI Series C, Vol. 243, Kluwer, Dordrecht, 755-809.

Very lucid and thorough.

 

 

 

Passive Ocean Models

 

 

Hasselmann, K., 1976: Stochastic climate models. Part I. Theory. Tellus, 28, 289-305.

The seminal paper on this topic.

 

Wunsch, C., 1992: Decade-to-century changes in the ocean circulation. Oceanography, 5, 99-106.

Contains a very lucid discussion of stochastic climate models, using the analogy with "The Game of Peter and Paul" (coin tossing).

 

 

 

Ocean Observations

 

Warren, B. A., 1981: Deep circulation of the World Ocean. In Evolution of Physical Oceanography, Scientific Surveys in Honor of Henry Stommel, B. A. Warren and C. Wunsch, eds., The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 6-41.

After 20 years, still the standard reference on the topic.

 

Hall, M. M., and H. L. Bryden, 1982: Direct estimates and mechanisms of ocean heat transport. Deep-Sea Res., 29, 339-359.

The classic on what the title says.

 

Warren, B. A., 1983: Why is no deep water formed in the North Pacific? J. Mar. Res., 41, 327-347.

This question will be with us for much of the course.

 

Gordon, A.L., 1986: Interocean exchange of thermocline water. J. Geophys. Res., 91, 5037-5046.

The classical description of the global nature of the thermohaline circulation.

 

Macdonald, A. M., and C. Wunsch, 1996: An estimate of global ocean circulation and heat fluxes. Nature, 382, 436-439.

The modern standard for quantitative information. Very recently superseded by

Ganachaud, A., and C. Wunsch, 2000: Improved estimates of global ocean circulation, heat transport and mixing from hydrographic data. Nature, 408, 453–457.

 

Simple Ocean Models

Haney, R. L, 1971: Surface thermal boundary condition for ocean circulation models. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 1, 241-248.

The first physically-based formulation.

 

Stommel, H., 1961: Thermohaline convection with two stable regimes of flow. Tellus, 13, 224-230.

The first model to show multiple equilibria of the thermohaline circulation. 25 years ahead of its time.

 

Rooth, C., 1982: Hydrology and ocean circulation. Prog. Oceanogr., 11, 131-149.

The "cousin" to Stommel’s model, allowing for interhemispheric flow.

 

Marotzke, J., 1990: Instabilities and multiple equilibria of the thermohaline circulation. Ph.D. thesis. Ber. Inst. Meeresk. Kiel, 194, 126pp.

Contains simplification to Stommel’s model that allows complete analytical solution.

 

Scott, J. R., J. Marotzke, and P. H. Stone, 1999: Interhemispheric thermohaline circulation in a coupled box model. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 29, 351-365.

Applies Rooth’s model to the interhemispheric steady state, including stability analysis.

 

Marotzke, J., 1994: Ocean models in climate problems. In: Ocean Processes in Climate Dynamics: Global and Mediterranean Examples, P. Malanotte-Rizzoli and A. R. Robinson, eds., Kluwer, 79-109.

Contains brief historical accounts of a number of the topics in this portion of the course.

 

 

Coupled Box Models

Nakamura, M., P. H. Stone, and J. Marotzke, 1994: Destabilization of the thermohaline circulation by atmospheric eddy transports. Journal of Climate, 7, 1870-1882.

Marotzke, J., 1996: Analysis of thermohaline feedbacks. In: Decadal Climate Variability: Dynamics and Predictability. D.L.T. Anderson and J. Willebrand, eds., NATO ASI series, I44, 333-378.

The first conceptual model that represents the interaction between atmospheric transports and the thermohaline circulation. General treatment of coupling strategies and of feedbacks in time-dependent situations.

 

Kump et al. (1999, op. cit.), Ch. 2, Daisyworld: An Introduction to Systems

 

Biogeochemical Cycles

Kump et al. (1999, op. cit.), Ch. 7, Recycling of the Elements: The Carbon Cycle; Ch. 8, Long-Term Climate Regulation

 

Ice Ages and Abrupt Climate Change

Kump et al. (1999, op. cit.), Ch. 11, Pleistocene Glaciations

 

Ganopolski, A., S. Rahmstorf, V. Petoukhov, and M. Claussen, 1998: Simulation of modern and glacial climates with a coupled global model of intermediate complexity. Nature, 391, 351-356.

Weaver, A. J., M. Eby, A. F. Fanning, and E. C. Wiebe, 1998: Simulated influence of carbon dioxide, orbital forcing and ice sheets on the climate of the last glacial maximum. Nature, 394, 847-853.

The first reasonably detailed simulations of glacial climates with (simplified) coupled models. Come to contradictory conclusions about the role of the ocean circulation in changing the global mean temperature.

 

Broecker, W. S., 1995: The Glacial World According to Wally. Revised. Eldigio Press, Palisades, NY, 318 pp. + appendices.

An informal "book" by one of the greatest thinkers on the subject.

 

Clark, P. U., R. S. Webb, and L. D. Keigwin, eds., 1999: Mechanisms of Global Climate Change at Millennial Time Scales. Geophysical Monograph Series, 112, American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, 394pp.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.A.), 2000: Special section on Abrupt Climate Change (http://www.pnas.org/perspectives.html), with "Perspectives" by R. B. Alley, J. Overpeck & R. Webb, W. S. Broecker, L. D. Keigwin & E. A. Boyle, J. Marotzke, T. V. Lowell, R. T. Pierrehumbert, D. Peteet, T. F. Stocker & O. Marchal

Up-to-date expositions of the research frontier. Access normally requires password. From SOC, go to library (http://www.soc.soton.ac.uk/LIB) and click on electronic journals, then select P and then the title.

 

General Circulation Models

Trenberth, K. E., ed., 1992: Climate System Modeling. Cambridge University Press, 788pp.

Comprehensive, a little dated.

 

McGuffie, K., and A. Henderson-Sellers, 1997. A Climate Modelling Primer (2nd ed.). John Wiley and Sons, New York, 253 pp.

More manageable and more cohesive than Trenberth (1992) since written by only two authors. Contains CD with model codes; inexpensive!

 

Gates, W. L., and 15 co-authors, 1999: An overview of the results of the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP I). Bull. Am. Met. Soc., 80, 29-55.

The granddaddy of all systematic model comparison projects, with 31 participant models and encyclopaedic output analysis.

 

Haidvogel, D. B., and A. Beckmann, 1999: Numerical Ocean Circulation Modeling. Imperial College Press, 318+xix pp.

An up-to-date account for the serious model builder.

 

Bryan, F., 1986: High-latitude salinity effects and interhemispheric thermohaline circulations. Nature, 323, 301–304.

Found multiple equilibria of the thermohaline circulation (THC) in a general circulation model. The most influential study ever on THC dynamics.

 

Manabe, S., and R.J. Stouffer, 1988: Two stable equilibria of a coupled ocean-atmosphere model. J. Climate, 1, 841-866.

Showed that multiple equilibria of the thermohaline circulation (THC) exist in coupled general circulation models. A case study in a "failed" experiment turning into a triumph, also showcasing the notorious "flux adjustments".

 

Marotzke, J. and J. Willebrand, 1991: Multiple equilibria of the global thermohaline circulation. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 21, 1372-1385.

Showed that the observed differences between the thermohaline circulations in the Atlantic and Pacific can, in principle, be maintained without any externally imposed asymmetry.

 

Marotzke, J., 1990: Instabilities and multiple equilibria of the thermohaline circulation. Ph.D. thesis. Ber. Inst. Meeresk. Kiel, 194, 126pp.

Weaver, A.J., and E.S. Sarachik, 1991: The role of mixed boundary conditions in numerical models of the ocean's climate. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 21, 1470-1493.

Weaver, A.J., E.S. Sarachik and J. Marotzke, 1991: Internal low frequency variability of the ocean's thermohaline circulation. Nature, 353, 836-838.

Weaver, A.J., J. Marotzke, P.F. Cummins and E.S. Sarachik, 1993: Stability and variability of the thermohaline circulation. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 23, 39-60.

Found modes of self-sustained variability of the thermohaline circulation under forcing that is constant in time.

 

Manabe, S. and R. J. Stouffer, 1993: Century scale effects of increased atmospheric CO2 on the ocean-atmosphere system. Nature, 364, 215-218.

Manabe, S. and R. J. Stouffer, 1994: Multiple-century response of a coupled ocean-atmosphere model to an increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide. J. Climate, 7, 5-23.

Wood, R. A., A. B. Keen, J. F. B. Mitchell, and J. M. Gregory, 1999: Changing spatial structure of the thermohaline circulation in response to atmospheric CO2 forcing in a climate model. Nature, 399, 572-575.

Show with comprehensive climate models that the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere can lead to a weakening or even breakdown of the thermohaline circulation.

 

Last Updated 19 March, 2003; author: Jochem Marotzke