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Climate forcing is the overall term for the various theories of the methods by which phenomena exert an effect on a climate. Forcing agents, also called "species of climate forcing" or "climate forcing mechanisms," are phenomena which can "force," or effect change on or influence the measure of a climate. Climate forcing can be due to natural forcing agents such as a change in sunlight intensity (in terms of how much sunlight is being produced by the sun), or man-made agents such as pollution.
There are two main types of climate forcing. Climate forcing which changes the amount of energy in the global climate is called radiative forcing. This increases or decreases the total energy in the system by changing how much energy is reflected or retained. Climate forcing which influences or change climates significantly, but does not change the total amount of energy in Earth's climate, such as ocean circulation, is not considered a radiative type of forcing.
The pre-dominant methods of climate forcing on Earth are greenhouse gas forcing (radiative), also called the greenhouse effect, aerosol radiative forcing, atmospheric circulation and ocean circulation. Climate models attempt to incorporate the methods of climate forcing and forcing agents into mathematical simulations of the global climate system.
Non-radiative forcing
Non-radiative forcing agents are natural physical phenomena which influence regional climate. They do not change the total energy within global climate system. Some of this type of forcing can be considered global rather than regional, as some of the respective forcing agents influence such a large number of climates. For instance, thermohaline circulation regulates climate across the world. Non-radiative forces can indirectly affect the total energy within the global climate by redistributing energy or substances in such a way that it affects a radiative forcing.
Examples of non-radiative forcing and their respective agents:
Radiative forcing
Radiative forcing agents influence climate by changing the total amount of energy in the system. Energy is naturally added to the system via the Sun and is naturally lost from the system through heat radiation into space. Forcing agents which can change how much of this energy is added or lost are radiative climate forces. Additionally, stores of the Sun's energy, such as fossil fuels, can also add energy by releasing it into the system through physical processes such as combustion which releases potential chemical energy as heat. See radiative forcing for more details.
Examples of radiative forcing and their respective agents:
Combinations of aerosols and greenhouse gases
Other radiative forcing agents
See Also
External Links
- Climate Forcing (http://www.cmdl.noaa.gov/climate.html) — Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory
- Climate Forcing Data (http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo/forcing.html) — National Geophysical Data Center
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