2-5: Regional Climate Models; Clouds and Vegetation Effects

Importance of this Unit to the Course

In Block 3 we will want to assess the impact of climate change on agriculture in various countries and on water resources within countries. Global models, as described in previous units in this block, do not provide the level of detail needed for such assessments, so the discussion in this unit will give an overview of methods to narrow the range of uncertainty left by global models.

Objectives

To understand the difference between global climate models and regional climate models.
To quantify the influence of clouds and vegetation in modifying climate.

Preparation for Discussion ( You must complete this section before class.)

Read the summary information. (Print text for offline review; images only.)

Take the Quiz

Review additional reading material (this material is not covered in the quiz, but offers more ideas for online discussion)

None

Discussion (online / face-to-face) (See your portfolio for due dates and times)

A major component of the course is participation in the online dialog. The following types of comments are required:

Social Comments
Knowledge-building Comments
Ethical Comments

The following may be used as discussion starters for the online dialog:

Unit Problem to Ponder:

Current regional models are "one-way" models. That is, they take information from a global model, but they do not feed information back to the global model. How might this lead to a mismatch between the global and regional models?
Unit exam questions from previous years
Unit discussions from previous years, available from the current online discussion

Additional Reading