Institute for Advanced Study Astrophysics Seminar

ABSTRACT: A hierarchy of atmospheric models of increasing complexity is essential to attempts at understanding the Earth's climate and future climate change. Some examples of elements of this hierarchy and examples of their use will be provided, including 1) a dry ideal gas on a rotating sphere, helpful in analyzing analyzing the poleward shift of the basic climatic zones with climate change, 2) a dry model with a passive water-like variable, useful for thinking about controls on the distribution of relative humidity and the strength of water vapor feedback, and 3) an otherwise comprehensive model but with a homogeneous saturated surface, used in studies of the factors that control the frequency and distribution of tropical cyclones.