PrintExperiment 3: Changing CO2
Let’s see what happens when we change the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere.
| Practice | Graded | |
|---|---|---|
| Albedo | 0.3 | 0.30 |
| CO2 Mult | 0.5 | 2.0 |
| Solar Mult | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Initial T | 15°C | 15°C |
| Ocean Depth | 100 | 50 |
First, try to predict what will happen. How much warming or cooling will occur? Will the temperature level off, or rise/fall forever? Then run the model.
Questions
8. You’ve changed the atmospheric CO2 concentration from its original value of 380 ppm by multiplying it by a specified value (table above). What is the resulting atmospheric CO2 concentration in your model?
New CO2 concentration =
9. What is the resulting temperature change at the end (50 yrs)? (±0.1 °C)
Change in temperature =
11. Notice that the temperature levels off at the end — it finds a new steady state. How long does it take to level off? Let’s find the response time, which is defined as the time required to accomplish 2/3 of the total temperature change. For example, if the temperature change was 1°C and it started at 15°, then we would find the time when the temperature reached 15.67°C — this would be the response time.
Find the response time for this case. (±.5 yrs)
Response Time =