Climate sensitivity

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 climate sensitivity as:

The change in the surface temperature in response to a change in the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration or other radiative forcing. See also Climate feedback parameter.

Earth system sensitivity

The equilibrium surface temperature response of the coupled atmosphere–ocean–cryosphere–vegetation–carbon cycle system to a doubling of the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration is referred to as Earth system sensitivity. Because it allows ice sheets to adjust to the external perturbation, it may differ substantially from the equilibrium climate sensitivity derived from coupled atmosphere– ocean models.

Effective equilibrium climate sensitivity

An estimate of the surface temperature response to a doubling of the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration that is evaluated from model output or observations for evolving non-equilibrium conditions. It is a measure of the strengths of the climate feedbacks at a particular time and may vary with forcing history and climate state, and therefore may differ from equilibrium climate sensitivity.

Equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS)

The equilibrium (steady state) change in the surface temperature following a doubling of the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration from pre-industrial conditions.

Transient climate response (TCR)

The surface temperature response for the hypothetical scenario in which atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) increases at 1% yr–1 from pre-industrial to the time of a doubling of atmospheric CO2 concentration (year 70).

Transient climate response to cumulative CO2 emissions (TCRE)

The transient surface temperature change per unit cumulative carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, usually 1000 GtC. TCRE combines both information on the airborne fraction of cumulative CO2 emissions (the fraction of the total CO2 emitted that remains in the atmosphere, which is determined by carbon cycle processes) and on the transient climate response (TCR).

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