Climate Sensitivity to Radiative Perturbations: Physical Mechanisms and Their Validation

Current climate models diverge in their assessment of global warming that will result from the anthropogenic increase in trace gases. This is because they differ in their representation of the hydrological cycle (water vapour, clouds, snow and sea ice, soil moisture) and because a direct validation in terms of sensitivity is not possible. Indirect methods and approaches are therefore necessary to verify the models efficiently. The book provides an overview on different validation approaches. The use of satellite data is particularly stressed.