Carbon Dioxide and Climate A Second Assessment (1982) / Chapter Skim
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INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
Pages 9-14
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From page 9... ...
. Since then, our understanding of the physical processes governing climate has advanced markedly, but the inference that man-made changes in atmospheric composition can substantially affect climate has remained virtually unchanged.
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From page 10... ...
(This greenhouse effect of water vapor is expected to play an important role in the total warming that might be caused by a rise in atmospheric CO2: the absorption of heat radiation by CO2 would increase evaporation and therefore the humidity, leading in turn to additional warming.) The possibility of climatic changes induced by human activities gained considerable prominence with the increasing postwar awareness of environmental problems.
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From page 11... ...
The present study seeks to contribute to this continuing process of research, analysis, and assessment by re-examining the issues addressed by the 1979 Charney report in the light of the considerable additional research conducted since its preparation. As in the earlier report, the input to the deliberations was an assumption on the projected loading rate of atmospheric CO2.
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From page 12... ...
However, in this report we do not attempt to undertake a comprehensive review of the climate modeling problem itself, that is, such factors as the representation of the planetary boundary layer, the development of more accurate methods for computing radiative transfer, or an accounting for the influence of topographic features on the general circulation and regional climate. Nor do we attempt to catalog existing climate models and their relative performance.
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From page 13... ...
Furthermore, past climates provide the only records of large excursions in climatic regimes and are a key test-bed for developing and testing climate theory. It is becoming increasingly clear that the major climatic changes of the scale of glacial fluctuations are at least in part produced by the temporal and latitudinal changes of solar radiation brought about by slight changes in the Earth's orbital parameters (obliquity, time of perihelion, eccentricity)
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From page 14... ...
Although questions have been raised about the magnitude of climatic effects, no one denies that changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration have the potential to influence the heat balance of the Earth and atmosphere. Finally, although possibly beneficial effects on biological photosynthetic productivity have been recognized, no one denies that an altered climate would to some extent influence how humanity secures its continuing welfare.
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