Video: How do climate models work
- 15 May 2012, 15:25
- Verity Payne
We often hear about climate model projections for the future, or
how climate model simulations have helped scientists explain
particular climate phenomena. But how do the models actually
work?
The Met Office has helpfully produced a video to answer that
question. It describes how models split the earth into a 3D grid
made up of horizontal and vertical boxes representing the
atmosphere, land and ocean. The behaviour of oceans and gases in
the atmosphere are represented by mathematical and physical
equations, and are solved by supercomputers to calculate the
climate in each grid-square over a series of small time steps.
The short video gives a handy overview of the basics. For more
information on how climate models deal with processes too small to
be modelled accurately, sources of uncertainty in climate models,
and why scientists are confident that their models simulate
global-scale climate features well, check out our Can we trust climate
models? blog and this
Yale Environment 360 article.