Climate Dynamics

by Kerry H. Cook

Overview

A concise introduction to climate system dynamics

Climate Dynamics is an advanced undergraduate-level textbook that provides an essential foundation in the physical understanding of the earth's climate system. The book assumes no background in atmospheric or ocean sciences and is appropriate for any science or engineering student who has completed two semesters of calculus and one semester of calculus-based physics.

Describing the climate system based on observations of the mean climate state and its variability, the first section of the book introduces the vocabulary of the field, the dependent variables that characterize the climate system, and the typical approaches taken to display these variables. The second section of the book gives a quantitative understanding of the processes that determine the climate state—radiation, heat balances, and the basics of fluid dynamics. Applications for the atmosphere, ocean, and hydrological cycle are developed in the next section, and the last three chapters of the book directly address global climate change. Throughout, the textbook makes connections between mathematics and physics in order to illustrate the usefulness of mathematics, particularly first-year calculus, for predicting changes in the physical world.

Climate change will impact every aspect of life in the coming decades. This book supports and broadens understanding of the dynamics of the climate system by offering a much-needed introduction that is accessible to any science, math, or engineering student.

• Makes a physically based, quantitative understanding of climate change accessible to all science, engineering, and mathematics undergraduates
• Explains how the climate system works and why the climate is changing
• Reinforces, applies, and connects the basic ideas of calculus and physics
• Emphasizes fundamental observations and understanding
• An online illustration package and solutions manual for professors is available

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691125305
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	07/28/2013
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Kerry H. Cook is a professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas, Austin.

Table of Contents

Preface xi



Chapter 1 An Introduction to the Climate System 1

Reference and Additional Reading 3



Chapter 2 The Observed Climatology 4

2.1 The Atmosphere 5

2.2 The Ocean 22

2.3 The Hydrologic Cycle 33

2.4 The Cryosphere 42

2.5 The Biosphere 46

2.6 Data Sources and References 47

2.7 Exercises 48



Chapter 3 Observations of Natural Climate Variability 49

3.1 Diurnal and Seasonal Climate Variations 50

3.2 Intraseasonal Climate Variability 51

3.3 Interannual Climate Variability 54

3.4 Decadal Climate Variability 59

3.5 Climate Variations on Century to Billion-Year Time Scales 63

3.6 Additional Reading 65



Chapter 4 Radiative Processes in the Climate System 66

4.1 Blackbody Theory 66

4.2 Application of Blackbody Theory to the Earth System 67

4.3 How Constant Is the Solar Constant? 69

4.4 Solar and Terrestrial Spectra 70

4.5 The Greenhouse Effect 76

4.6 The Equation of Transfer 82

4.7 Radiative Effects of Clouds 85

4.8 References 87

4.9 Exercises 87



Chapter 5 Thermodynamics and the Flow of Heat through the Climate System 89

5.1 Equations of State 89

5.2 The First Law of Thermodynamics 91

5.3 Heat Balance Equations 92

5.4 Observed Heat Fluxes 98

5.5 Additional Reading 107

5.6 Exercises 108



Chapter 6 Dynamics: The Forces That Drive Atmospheric and Ocean Circulations 109

6.1 The Coriolis Force 110

6.2 Pressure Gradient Force 116

6.3 Hydrostatic Balance 117

6.4 Geostrophic Balance 120

6.5 Friction 122

6.6 The Momentum Equations 123

6.7 Exercises 123



Chapter 7 Atmospheric Circulations 126

7.1 Thermally Direct Circulations 126

7.2 Midlatitude Circulation Systems 135

7.3 Exercises 136



Chapter 8 Ocean Circulation Systems 137

8.1 Wind-Driven Circulation: Ekman Dynamics 137

8.2 The Density-Driven Circulation: The Thermohaline Circulation 141

8.3 Vertical Mixing Processes 142

8.4 Reference 146

8.5 Exercises 146



Chapter 9 The Hydrologic Cycle 148

9.1 Atmospheric Water Balance 148

9.2 Land Surface Water Balance 151

9.3 Exercises 152



Chapter 10 Radiative Forcing of Climate Change 153

10.1 The Atmosphere's Changing Chemical Composition 154

10.2 Radiative Effects of Greenhouse Gas Increases 160

10.3 Exercises 163



Chapter 11 Climate Change Processes 165

11.1 Climate Sensitivity 165

11.2 Climate Feedback Processes 166

11.3 Extreme Hydrologic Events 171

11.4 Exercises 172



Chapter 12 Climate Simulation and Prediction 174

12.1 Zero-Dimensional Climate Model 174

12.2 Surface Heat Balance Climate Models 176

12.3 General Circulation Models 177

12.4 Regional Climate Models 181

12.5 Earth System Models 181

12.6 Evaluating Model Uncertainty 185

12.7 Reference and Additional Reading 186

12.8 Exercises 186



Appendix A Units, Constants, and Conversions 189

Appendix B Coordinate Systems 191

Local Cartesian Coordinates 191

Earth-Centered Spherical Coordinates 192

Appendix C Lagrangian and Eulerian Derivatives 195

Index 197

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Climate change and its impacts are being embraced by a wider community than just earth scientists. A useful textbook, Climate Dynamics covers the basic science required to gain insights into what constitutes the climate system and how it behaves. While still being quantitative, the material is written in a lecture-note style that creates a simplified, but not simple, approach to teaching this complex subject."—Chris E. Forest, Pennsylvania State University

"Comprehensive and rigorous, Climate Dynamics is a good reference for the basics of the field. With its in-depth treatment and perceptive exercises, it lays out an excellent undergraduate course on climate change—a topic of tremendous current interest. Cook's long experience working in the area shines through."—Richard Kleeman, New York University

Editorial Reviews

"[Climate Dynamics] is an excellent basis for outlining an undergraduate climate dynamics course that can be taught in one term. It introduces and describes all processes and parts of the climate system that are necessary for its understanding."—-Tobias Gerken, GeoQ

From the Publisher

"The style of presentation is simplified relative to other texts in this field, but without sacrificing the rigor that defines the subject matter. The result is an accessible textbook on climate dynamics that should benefit students across a wide range of STEM disciplines."

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