Climate Change as Simulated by the NCAR CCSM

Introduction

This animation depicts global surface warming as simulated by the Community Climate System Model (CCSM), version three. It shows the temperature anomalies relative to the end of the 19th century, both over the entire globe and as a global average. Several major volcanic eruptions are noted in the graph and the subsequent cooling is seen in the animation.

The Research Effort

This simulation is one of many using the CCSM for the fourth assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It was a large effort sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.

The period shown is from 1870 to 2100. The gray shading around the global average within the graph depicts the spread of five separate model experiments. The colors within the animation above the graph depict the temperature anomalies, blue being cooler and red being warmer.

Gary Strand (CGD)
Darin Oman (CISL)