A Global Climatic Model Based on the Energy Balance of the Earth-Atmosphere System

1969/06/01 by William D. Sellers · 1,148 citations
Environmental Science · #Albedo (alchemy) #Atmosphere (unit) #Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics #Atmospheric sciences #Climate change #Climate model #Climatology #Earth's energy budget #Energy balance #Environmental science #Geology #Latitude #Meteorology #Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena #Physics #Radiation #Sea ice #Solar constant #Solar irradiance

paper · doi:10.1175/1520-0450(1969)008<0392:agcmbo>2.0.co;2

published in Journal of applied meteorology 8(3), 392-400 (American Meteorological Society)

openalex publication_date 1969/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

A relatively simple numerical model of the energy balance of the earth-atmosphere is set up and applied. The dependent variable is the average annual sea level temperature in 10° latitude belts. This is expressed basically as a function of the solar constant, the planetary albedo, the transparency of the atmosphere to infrared radiation, and the turbulent exchange coefficients for the atmosphere and the oceans. The major conclusions of the analysis are that removing the arctic ice cap would increase annual average polar temperatures by no more than 7C, that a decrease of the solar constant by 2–5% might be sufficient to initiate another ice age, and that man's increasing industrial activities may eventually lead to a global climate much warmer than today.

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