CO2 pulse response function for the calculation of Global Warming Potentials: a multi-model analysis





     
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Introduction:

Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) are frequently used metrics to compare different greenhouse gases. They are used, for example, in the  basket approach of the Kyoto protocol or to compute CO2 equivalent emissions. A prerequisite to calculate GWP is quantitative information on the perturbation  lifetime of an atmospheric CO2 perturbation. This information is traditionally  computed by using a carbon cycle models that includes the main reservoirs (land, ocean, atmosphere). The model is forced by a pulse-like input of carbon into the atmosphere and the decay of the atmospheric perturbation is monitored through time to obtain the so-called impulse response function (or Green's function).

The response used to compute Global Warming Potential was computed using a single model only in previous reports of the Intergovernmenal Panel on Climate Change. It appears now timely to compute this response function and and its uncertainty by using  the latest generation of carbon cycle-climate models. For this multi-model analysis, we seek your collaboration. The goal is to calculate global response functions of atmospheric CO2, temperature and sea level in response to a pulse-like input of carbon into the atmosphere using a carbon cycle-climate model.

Contact:

Prof. Fortunat Joos
University of Bern
Climate and Environmental Physics and
Oeschger Centre for Climate Research
Sidlerstrasse 5
CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland

Tel:     +41 (0)31 631 4461
eMail:  joos@climate.unibe.ch		 Raphael Roth
University of Bern
Climate and Environmental Physics and
Oeschger Centre for Climate Research
Sidlerstrasse 5
CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland

Tel:     +41 (0)31 631 8564
eMail:  roth@climate.unibe.ch