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Is equilibrium climate sensitivity clouding our judgement?
  • Jonny Williams
Jonny Williams
NIWA

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

Equilibrium climate sensitivity - ECS - is easily-understood, has been studied for over 150 years and is therefore appealing as a metric for communication of climate model results. In this work I argue that ECS is not a good metric for comparing different climate models. Via brief examples concerning the Pliocene epoch and the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum , I further argue that models which produce temperatures towards the higher end of model intercomparisons are useful in spite of recent studies concluding that these models are 'too hot'. I hope that this brief manuscript generates discussion on how to prioritise the consideration of more useful, and potentially novel, ways of comparing climate models going forward.
10 Jul 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
23 Jul 2023Published in ESS Open Archive