Long-Term Climate Monitoring by the Global Climate Observing System: International Meeting of Experts, Asheville, North Carolina, USA

ISBN-13: 9789401041430 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 518 str.

Thomas R. Karl

Opis

Is the climate warming? Is the hydrological cycle intensifying? Is the climate becoming more variable or extreme? Is the chemical composition of the atmosphere changing? Is the solar irradiance constant? Answers to these questions are fundamental to understanding, predicting, and assessing climate on time scales ranging from weeks to a century. Atmospheric, oceanic, and environmental scientists have primarily relied on an ad-hoc collection of disparate environmental observational and data management systems to address these problems. But these systems were not designed to measure climate variations and, as a result, changes and variations of the earth system during the instrumental climate record is far from unequivocal. This book develops a framework from which a Global Climate Observing System, currently being discussed in international forums, can be implemented to monitor changes and variations of climate.
Audience: Administrators, policy makers, professionals, graduate students, and others interested in learning how we can ensure a long-term climate record for application to national economic development and understanding ecosystem dynamics.

Spis treści

Foreword; T. Karl. The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). An Editorial; T. Spence, J. Townshend. Long-Term Climate Monitoring by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). An Editorial; T. Karl, et al. Long-Term Climate Monitoring by the Global Climate Observing System. Report of Breakout Group A - Climate Forcings and Feedbacks. An Editorial; C. Miller, F. Bretherton. Long-Term Climate Monitoring by the Global Climate Observing System. Report of Breakout Group B - Climate Responses and Feedbacks. An Editorial; K.E. Trenberth. Long-Term Climate Monitoring by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). Report of Breakout Group C - Climate Impacts. An Editorial; W.E. Easterling. Critical Issues for Long-Term Climate Monitoring; T.R. Karl, et al. Toward a Scientific Centered Climate Monitoring System; J.D. Mahlman. Long-Term Climate Monitoring and Extreme Events; N. Nicholls. Low-Cost Long-Term Monitoring of Global Climate Forcings and Feedbacks; J. Hansen, et al. Regional Climate Changes as Simulated in Time-Slice Experiments; U. Cubash, et al. Monitoring Changes of Clouds; W.B. Rossow, B. Cairns. On Detecting Long-Term Changes in Atmospheric Moisture; W.P. Elliott. Long-Term Observations for Monitoring of the Cryosphere; J.E. Walsh. Satellite Monitoring of Global Land Cover Changes and Their Impact on Climate; R.R. Nemani, S.W. Running. Long-Term Observations of Land Surface Characteristics; C.F. Ropelewski. Atmospheric Circulation Climate Changes; K.E. Trenberth. Temperature above the Surface Layer; J.R. Christy. An Ocean Observing System for Climate. The Conceptual Design; N.R. Smith, et al. Observational Evidence of Interannual to Decadal-Scale Variability of the Subsurface Temperature-Salinity Structure of the World Ocean; S. Levitus, J. Antonov. Monitoring Sea Level Changes; V. Gornitz. Land Surface Temperatures &endash; Is the Network Good Enough? P.D. Jones. Marine Surface Temperature: Observed Variations and Data Requirements; D.E. Parker, et al. Documenting and Detecting Long-Term Precipitation Trends: Where We Are and What Should Be Done; P.Y. Groisman, D.R. Legates. Indexes of Leading Climate Indicators for Impact Assessment; W.E. Easterling, R.W. Kates.