{"id":52,"date":"2024-12-06T21:09:17","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T21:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atmos.ucla.edu\/alexhall\/?page_id=52"},"modified":"2026-04-17T22:27:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T22:27:59","slug":"climate-feedbacks","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/atmos.ucla.edu\/alexhall\/climate-feedbacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate feedbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Climate feedbacks are processes within the climate system that have the potential to either mitigate or exacerbate climate change. The major climate feedbacks are the following:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water vapor feedback<\/strong>, in which warming causes the atmosphere to hold more water vapor, which traps even more heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snow and sea ice albedo feedbacks<\/strong>, in which the melting of snow or sea ice uncovers surfaces that absorb more solar radiation than snow or ice would have, leading to enhanced local warming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cloud feedback<\/strong>, in which changes in cloud cover affect the amount of incoming solar radiation that penetrates to the land surface, and the amount of outgoing terrestrial radiation that is reflected back out to space. One of the critical questions in climate science is whether changes in cloud cover create a positive (exacerbating warming) or a negative (mitigating warming) feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our group works to reduce the uncertainty in global climate model projections of snow albedo, sea ice albedo, and cloud feedbacks (see Emergent Constraints<\/a> for more information).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related Publications<\/h4>\n\n\n
<\/a><\/form>

2018<\/h3>

Krinner, G; Derksen, C; Essery, R; Flanner, M; Hagemann, S; Clark, M; Hall, A; Rott, H; Brutel-Vuilmet, C; Kim, H; M\u00e9nard, CB; Mudryk, L; Thackeray, CW; Wang, L; Arduini, G; Balsamo, G; Bartlett, P; Boike, J; Boone, A; Ch\u00e9ruy, F; Colin, J; Cuntz, M; Dai, Y; Decharme, B; Derry, J; Ducharne, A; Dutra, E; Fang, X; Fierz, C; Ghattas, J; Gusev, Y; Haverd, V; Kontu, A; Lafaysse, M; Law, R; Lawrence, D; Li, W; Marke, T; Marks, D; M\u00e9n\u00e9goz, M; Nasonova, O; Nitta, T; Niwano, M; Pomeroy, J; Raleigh, MS; Schaedler, G; Semenov, V; Smirnova, T; Stacke, T; Strasser, U; Svenson, S; Turkov, D; Wang, T; Wever, N; Yuan, H; Zhou, W; Zhu, D<\/p>

ESM-SnowMIP: Assessing models and quantifying snow-related climate feedbacks<\/a> Journal Article<\/span> <\/p>

In: <\/span>Geoscientific Model Development, <\/span>vol. 11, <\/span>pp. 5027\u20135049, <\/span>2018<\/span>.<\/p>

Abstract<\/a><\/span> | Links<\/a><\/span> | BibTeX<\/a><\/span><\/p>

@article{1814,
\r\ntitle = {ESM-SnowMIP: Assessing models and quantifying snow-related climate feedbacks},
\r\nauthor = {G Krinner and C Derksen and R Essery and M Flanner and S Hagemann and M Clark and A Hall and H Rott and C Brutel-Vuilmet and H Kim and CB M\u00e9nard and L Mudryk and CW Thackeray and L Wang and G Arduini and G Balsamo and P Bartlett and J Boike and A Boone and F Ch\u00e9ruy and J Colin and M Cuntz and Y Dai and B Decharme and J Derry and A Ducharne and E Dutra and X Fang and C Fierz and J Ghattas and Y Gusev and V Haverd and A Kontu and M Lafaysse and R Law and D Lawrence and W Li and T Marke and D Marks and M M\u00e9n\u00e9goz and O Nasonova and T Nitta and M Niwano and J Pomeroy and MS Raleigh and G Schaedler and V Semenov and T Smirnova and T Stacke and U Strasser and S Svenson and D Turkov and T Wang and N Wever and H Yuan and W Zhou and D Zhu},
\r\nurl = {https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5194\/gmd-11-5027-2018},
\r\nyear  = {2018},
\r\ndate = {2018-01-01},
\r\nurldate = {2018-01-01},
\r\njournal = {Geoscientific Model Development},
\r\nvolume = {11},
\r\npages = {5027\u20135049},
\r\nabstract = {This paper describes ESM-SnowMIP, an international coordinated modelling effort to evaluate current snow schemes, including snow schemes that are included in Earth system models, in a wide variety of settings against local and global observations. The project aims to identify crucial processes and characteristics that need to be improved in snow models in the context of local- and global-scale modelling. A further objective of ESM-SnowMIP is to better quantify snow-related feedbacks in the Earth system. Although it is not part of the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6), ESM-SnowMIP is tightly linked to the CMIP6-endorsed Land Surface, Snow and Soil Moisture Model Intercomparison (LS3MIP).},
\r\nkeywords = {},
\r\npubstate = {published},
\r\ntppubtype = {article}
\r\n}
\r\n<\/pre><\/div>
Close<\/a><\/p><\/div>
This paper describes ESM-SnowMIP, an international coordinated modelling effort to evaluate current snow schemes, including snow schemes that are included in Earth system models, in a wide variety of settings against local and global observations. The project aims to identify crucial processes and characteristics that need to be improved in snow models in the context of local- and global-scale modelling. A further objective of ESM-SnowMIP is to better quantify snow-related feedbacks in the Earth system. Although it is not part of the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6), ESM-SnowMIP is tightly linked to the CMIP6-endorsed Land Surface, Snow and Soil Moisture Model Intercomparison (LS3MIP).<\/div>
Close<\/a><\/p><\/div>