Response of a global climate model to a thirty percent reduction of the solar constant

doi:10.1016/0921-8181(93)90010-L

Global and Planetary Change

Volume 8, Issue 4, November 1993, Pages 219-230

https://doi.org/10.1016/0921-8181(93)90010-L Get rights and content

Abstract

An investigation is made of the “white earth” scenario, wherein the positive feedback mechanism, involving temperature, snow/ice cover,and albedo, renders the earth's surface covered with permanent snow freezes the oceans when the solar input is sufficiently low. A three-dimensional energy budget climate model is used to stimulate the earth's response to a 30% decrease in the solar constant. The decrease occurs over a period of 90 years. The model simulates an additional 100 years to allow conditions to stabilize. At the end of the model run, the planetary mean surface temperature is 204.8°K, the oceans are completely frozen over, and the maximum seasonal mean temperature any grid point of the planet is 251.6°K in the western Gobi Desert in JJA. The highest average annual temperature is 238.7°K in western Zaire. A significant portion of the planet's land surface is free of permanent snow cover. The result of this model run suggest that the hydrologic balance may provide a significant negative feedback mechanism to counter the snow/ice-albedo positive feedback mechanism and that the earth's climate may be less sensitive to variations in the solar constant than previously believed.

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A quasi-three-dimensional climate model is used to study the early state of the Earth when the solar luminosity was 70% of the present value. Usually, climatic simulations going back to this period lead to a completely frozen planet contrasting with the geologic evidences of sedimentary rock formation and thus of the presence of liquid water at the surface of the continents during the Archean (4.6−2.5 billion years before present). Here, several model simulations are performed for solar luminosities varying between 0.7 and 1 times the present value. Using the present-day continental configuration and taking the seasonal cycle into account, a steady state is found in which glaciation is complete but snow covers only some oceanic coasts, leaving the continents essentially snow-free. As a result, the albedo of the continental area is strongly reduced compared to that of the frozen ocean. Some continental temperatures can almost reach the freezing point of water in summer −1°C in the center of Eurasia). This result can be explained by the behavior of the detailed hydrologic cycle included in the model. During the decrease of the solar luminosity, the jump to a completely frozen Earth occurs when the solar luminosity reaches 0.86 times its present value. The behavior of the climatic system is substantially different with a global ocean configuration. In the absence of land surfaces, the meridional heat transport, explicitly calculated, is less effective and the glaciation of a model latitude zone does not lead to the glaciation of its equatorward neighbor. The climate instability is relatively local and the jump to the completely frozen state is much more progressive than in the case of the modem continental configuration. The role of the seasonal cycle in the paleoclimatic simulation is also studied. Due to the non-linearity of the model, removing the seasonal cycle drives the system to an increase of the annual mean planetary albedo and to a decrease of the relative value (0.82) of the critical solar luminosity at which the jump to the completely frozen solution occurs.
The Neoproterozoic climatic paradox: Equatorial palaeolatitude for Marinoan glaciation near sea level in South Australia
1995, Earth and Planetary Science Letters
New palaeomagnetic analyses have been carried out for the Neoproterozoic (650-600 Ma) Elatina Formation, an important redbed unit of the Marinoan glaciogenic sequence in the Adelaide Geosyncline, South Australia, and flat-lying equivalent facies on the adjacent cratonic Stuart Shelf and Torrens Hinge Zone. The Marinoan rocks display strong evidence of marine glacial deposition, and coeval periglacial sand wedges in permafrost regolith on the Stuart Shelf indicate in-situ cold climate near sea level and marked seasonality. The palaeomagnetic data define a palaeopole for the formation and indicate that Marinoan glaciation, including permafrost, grounded glaciers and marine glacial deposition, occurred near the palaeoequator.
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Response of a global climate model to a thirty percent reduction of the solar constant

Abstract

Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol. (Global Planet Change Sect.)

Sublimation or melting: observations from the White Mountains, California and Nevada, U.S.A.

J. Glaciol.

The effect of solar radiation variation on the climate of the Earth

Tellus

A study of climate sensitivity using a simple energy balance climate model

J. Atmos. Sci.

Air-ocean-icecap interactions in relation to climate fluc tuations and glaciation cycles

Meteorol. Monogr.

The role of sublimation and condensation in formation of the ice sheet surface Mizuho Station, Antarctica

J. Geophys. Res.

Energy balance climate modeling: comparison of radiative and dynamic feedback mechanisms

Tellus

A modified Köppen classification applied to model simulations of glacial and interglacial climates

Clim. Change

On the role of high latitude ice, snow, and vegetation feedbacks in the climatic response to external forcing

Clim. Change

Heat-budget measurements on the Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peruvian Andes

J. Glaciol.

The Glaciers of Equatorial East Africa

Simple albedo feedback models of ice caps

Tellus

Climate evolution on the terrestial planets

The transport of moisture into the Antarctic interior

Tellus