Scientific Computing: Scientists can now study climate change in far more detail with powerful new computer software released by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, CO. The Community Earth System Model (CESM) will be one of the primary climate models used for the next assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).CESM is the latest in a series of NCAR-based global models developed over the last 30 years. The models are jointly supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), which is NCAR's sponsor. Scientists and engineers at NCAR, DOE laboratories, and several universities developed the CESM.
"The Community Earth System Model is yet another step toward representing improved physics and biogeochemistry in a coupled model," says Anjuli Bamzai, program director in NSF's Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, which funds NCAR.
"As our understanding of climate-relevant processes improves, it is imperative to represent these processes in the model."
The new model's advanced capabilities will help scientists shed new light on some of the critical mysteries of global warming, including:
- What impact will warming temperatures have on the massive ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica?
- How will patterns in the ocean and atmosphere affect regional climate in coming decades?
- What will be the likely interaction of climate change and tropical cyclones, including hurricanes?
- How will tiny airborne particles, known as aerosols, affect clouds and temperatures?...
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