A Reassessment of the Effect of CO2 Variations on a Simple Global Climatic Model

Abstract

A simple global climatic model described earlier is modified slightly and reapplied to the CO2 problem. The modifications include using a more efficient numerical method to solve the system of equations and changing the expression used to estimate the infrared emissivity of an atmospheric column. After runs of 300 model years, considered the period necessary to reach a true steady state because of the large heat capacity of the oceans, the average global surface temperature drops 1.64C if the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is halved and rises 1.32C if the amount is doubled. Some comments on the future of this type of modeling experiment are appended.