On the effect of decreasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere

Abstract

In the present paper the effect of an abrupt change of the atmospheric radiative forcing is investigated by means of a global climate model that includes a mixed layer ocean. In assessing if, under such a change, the model response has a bifurcation point, the steady solution is studied for a sudden decrease of CO2 concentration from its actual value. It is found that there is a critical threshold for CO2 content below which the model ends up to a snowball Earth. It occurs for a few percentage changes of CO2 concentration around the threshold because the model strongly depends on the relationship among atmospheric temperature, water vapor content and the sudden ice-albedo feedback activation, even in the subtropical regions. Moreover, results suggest that the transition to ice-covered Earth is clearly favoured when Q-flux corrections (i. e. the parameterization of ocean heat transports) are removed. © 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.