Climate model

Climate Change 2021 – The Physical Science Basis, Annex VII: Glossary, written by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and published by Cambridge University Press in 2023, defines a climate model as: ‘A qualitative or quantitative representation of the climate system based on the physical, chemical and biological properties of its components, their interactions and feedback processes and accounting for some of its known properties. The climate system can be represented by models of varying complexity; that is, for any one component or combination of components, a spectrum or hierarchy of models can be identified, differing in such aspects as the number of spatial dimensions, the extent to which physical, chemical or biological processes are explicitly represented, or the level at which empirical parametrizations are involved. There is an evolution towards more complex models with interactive chemistry and biology. Climate models are applied as a research tool to study and simulate the climate and for operational purposes, including monthly, seasonal and interannual climate predictions.’

Examples include:

• Earth system model (ESM)
• Earth system model of intermediate complexity (EMIC)
• Energy balance model (EBM)
• Simple climate model (SCM)
• Regional climate model (RCM)
• Dynamic global vegetation model (DGVM)
• General circulation model (GCM)

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