Finally, we come to the so-called General Circulation Models or GCMs. GCMs attempt to describe the full three-dimensional geometry of the atmosphere and other components of Earth's climate system. Atmospheric GCMs numerically solve the equations of physics (e.g., dynamics, thermodynamics, radiative transfer, etc.) and chemistry applied to the atmosphere and its constituent components, including the greenhouse gases. In more primitive GCMs (the earlier generation models), the role of the ocean was treated in a very basic way, e.g., as a simple slab of water where only the thermodynamic role of the ocean was accounted for.
Current generation climate models typically include an ocean that plays a far more active role in the climate system. The major current systems are modeled, as is their direct role in transporting heat poleward. When the dynamics of the ocean and its interactions with the atmosphere are explicitly resolved by a climate model, the model is referred to as Atmosphere-Ocean GCM, or AOGCM, or sometimes simply a coupled model. Most state-of-the-art climate modeling centers today run AOGCMs. In addition, many state-of-the-art climate models today include a detailed description of the hydrological cycle (which couples atmospheric, terrestrial, and ocean reservoirs of water and the flows between these reservoirs) as well as the role of terrestrial biosphere, the continental ice sheets, and even the ocean's carbon cycle and its interactions with the ocean and the atmosphere.
Unlike simpler climate models like EBMs, GCMs and AOGCMS can be used to study a variety of climate attributes other than surface temperature, such as atmospheric temperature profiles, rainfall, atmospheric circulation, ocean circulation, wind patterns, snow and ice distributions, and many other variables that are part of the global climate system.
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EdGCM
The EdGCM project, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and spearheaded by scientists associated with NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS), uses the GCM originally used in a number of famous experiments (which we will review later in this lesson) by climate scientist James Hansen, Director of GISS. This model was developed in the 1980s and is primitive by modern standards, but it includes much of the important physics that is in current state-of-the-art climate models and it is far less computationally intensive. The scientists at EdGCM have ported the model into a format that can be run on a simple desktop or laptop computer (both PC and Mac). Originally it was free, but to cover expenses for the project, a minor fee is now required for download. Your course author has downloaded EdGCM onto his own laptop (MacBook Pro) and is now going to show you the results of several experiments he has run.