Overview

The simple one-dimensional characterisation of the climate system portrayed by the IPCC (see Figure 1) is grossly inadequate. It completely ignores fundamental processes that regulate energy flow through the climate system and has led to erroneous conclusions about the importance of radiative forcing of the climate system. There are many important processes in addition to radiation that also need to be considered because of their roles in regulating energy flow through the climate system and their contributions to climate variability. What we need to recognise is that the climate system is multi-dimensional beyond solar and terrestrial radiation processes.

The earth s climate system is exceedingly complex. In its simplest it consists of the land surfaces, the oceans, the polar and high mountain ice sheets, and the enveloping atmosphere. For practical purposes we treat the land geography as fixed (ie, neglecting continental drift). However, the oceans and atmosphere are in constant motion and the ice sheets expand and contract, both seasonally and on longer timescales. Clouds are constantly forming and dispersing and are crucial for the climate system as they release latent energy of water vapour to the atmosphere. Clouds also locally affect flows of radiant energy. The biosphere of the land surface is in constant change, especially as vegetation responds to the seasonal cycles and longer period variations of climate. The biosphere is particularly important in considerations of surface evapotranspiration within the hydrological cycle, and for plant photosynthesis and oxidation as part of the carbon cycle. Local salinity, and hence...