Earth's outgoing longwave radiation linear due to H₂O greenhouse effect.

ABSTRACT: Satellite measurements and radiative calculations show that Earth's outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) is an essentially linear function of surface temperature over a wide range of temperatures (≳60 K). Linearity implies that radiative forcing has the same impact in warmer as in colder climates and is thus of fundamental importance for understanding past and future climate change. Although the evidence for a nearly linear relation was first pointed out more than 50 y ago, it is still unclear why this relation is valid and when it breaks down. Here we present a simple semianalytical model that explains Earth's linear OLR as an emergent property of an atmosphere whose greenhouse effect is dominated by a condensable gas. Linearity arises from a competition between the surface's increasing ther

SUBMITTER: Koll DDB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6187190 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature