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Weather
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Predicting the Future with Climate Models
To represent the Earth’s atmosphere, global climate models use a three-dimensional grid system that coats the globe and extends upward, dividing the atmosphere into several layers that each includes thousands of points where the model calculates atmospheric processes as it runs. General circulation models (GCMs) are highly complex and have a grid of points with a very fine mesh. They might take into account 10 different levels in the atmosphere, each represented by a grid layer with 65,000 data points, making a total of more than half a million points. Global climate models use mathematical equations to describe happenings within the Earth system, such as atmospheric processes, the amount of solar energy that enters and Earth's rotation. Complex climate models receive information about Earth processes and anthropogenic change from the calculations of hundreds of different mathematical equations and assesses what sorts of climatic events would result at locations within the grid. The mathematical equations for a large climate model require quick supercomputers that perform many calculations rapidly, often more than 80 million calculations an hour. The most sophisticated climate models take into account five important components:
The climate system is so complex that all models must make some assumptions. However, as scientists continue to study and better understand the processes that go on within the Earth system, our models become more and more accurate. Delve Deeper... |
A
model is a representation of something that allows people to see what
the actual thing is like and how it works. A model can be especially
helpful when it is impractical to take a look at the real version.
Global climate models describe the workings of the Earth system to
the best of our ability. They are used to predict how the Earth system
would react decades into the future if we add greenhouse gasses and
aerosols to the atmosphere, deforest land, or otherwise change our
world.