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Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg
Verfasst von:Hausfather, Zeke
 Drake, Henri F.
 Abbott, Tristan
 Schmidt, Gavin A.
Titel:Evaluating the Performance of Past Climate Model Projections
Verlagsort:Washington
Verlag:John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Jahr:2020
Umfang:10 S.
Inhalt:Retrospectively comparing future model projections to observations provides a robust and independent test of model skill. Here we analyze the performance of climate models published between 1970 and 2007 in projecting future global mean surface temperature (GMST) changes. Models are compared to observations based on both the change in GMST over time and the change in GMST over the change in external forcing. The latter approach accounts for mismatches in model forcings, a potential source of error in model projections independent of the accuracy of model physics. We find that climate models published over the past five decades were skillful in predicting subsequent GMST changes, with most models examined showing warming consistent with observations, particularly when mismatches between model‐projected and observationally estimated forcings were taken into account. Plain Language Summary Climate models provide an important way to understand future changes in the Earth's climate. In this paper we undertake a thorough evaluation of the performance of various climate models published between the early 1970s and the late 2000s. Specifically, we look at how well models project global warming in the years after they were published by comparing them to observed temperature changes. Model projections rely on two things to accurately match observations: accurate modeling of climate physics and accurate assumptions around future emissions of CO2 and other factors affecting the climate. The best physics‐based model will still be inaccurate if it is driven by future changes in emissions that differ from reality. To account for this, we look at how the relationship between temperature and atmospheric CO2 (and other climate drivers) differs between models and observations. We find that climate models published over the past five decades were generally quite accurate in predicting global warming in the years after publication, particularly when accounting for differences between modeled and actual changes in atmospheric CO2 and other climate drivers. This research should help resolve public confusion around the performance of past climate modeling efforts and increases our confidence that models are accurately projecting global warming. Key Points Evaluation of uninitialized multidecadal climate model future projection performance provides a concrete test of model skill The quasi‐linear relationship between model/observed forcings and temperature change is used to control for errors in projected forcing Model simulations published between 1970 and 2007 were skillful in projecting future global mean surface warming
ISSN:0094-8276
Titel Quelle:Geophysical research letters
Jahr Quelle:2020
Band/Heft Quelle:47, 1
DOI:doi:10.1029/2019GL085378
URL:http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/cgi-bin/edok?dok=https%3A%2F%2Ffanyv88.com%3A443%2Fhttps%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1029%2F2019GL085 ...
 http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/cgi-bin/edok?dok=https%3A%2F%2Ffanyv88.com%3A443%2Fhttps%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fdocview%2F2352592755%2Fabstract%2F
 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085378
Sprache:English
Sach-SW:Atmospheric models
 Carbon dioxide
 Carbon dioxide atmospheric concentrations
 Carbon dioxide emissions
 Climate
 Climate change
 Climate models
 Earth
 Global warming
 Model accuracy
 Model testing
 Modelling
 Performance evaluation
 Physics
 Surface temperature
 Temperature changes
Verknüpfungen:→ Sammelwerk


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