IPCC Climate Change Data: HADCM3 B2a Model: 2050 Radiation

The recent experiments performed at the Hadley Centre have
used the new Unified Model (Cullen, 1993). These experiments
represent a large step forward in the way climate change is
modelled by GCMs and raises new possibilities for scenario
construction. This experiment has overcome some of the major
difficulties that were associated with the previous generations
of equilibrium (circa IPCC 1990) and cold-start transient (circa
IPCC 1992) climate change experiments. HadCM2 has a spatial
resolution of 2.5 degrees x 3.75 degrees (latitude by longitude)
and the representation produces a grid box resolution of 96 x 73
grid cells. This produces a surface spatial resolution of about
417km x 278 km reducing to 295 x 278km at 45 degrees North and
South (comparable to a spectral resolution of T42). The
equilibrium climate sensitivity (DT2x) of HadCM2, that is the
global-mean temperature response to a doubling of effective CO2
concentration, is approximately 2.5 degrees C, although, this
quantity varies with the time-scale considered. This is somewhat
lower than most other GCMs (IPCC, 1992). In order to undertake a
'warm-start' experiment it is necessary to perturb the model
with a forcing from an early historical era, when the radiative
forcing was relatively small compared to the present. The Hadley
Centre started their experiments performed with HadCM2 with
forcing from the middle industrial era, about 1860 Mitchell et
al., 1995 and Johns et al., 1995. The greenhouse gas only
integrations, HadCM2GG, used the combined forcing of all the
greenhouse gases as an equivalent CO2 concentration. A further
series of integrations, HadCM2GS, used the combined equivalent
CO2 concentration plus the negative forcing from sulphate
aerosols. The HadCM2GG integrations simulated the change in
forcing of the climate system by greenhouse gases since the
early industrial period (taken by HadCM2 to be 1860). The
addition of the negative forcing effects of sulphate aerosols
represents the direct radiative forcing due to anthropogenic
sulphate aerosols by means of an increase in clear-sky surface
albedo proportional to the local sulphate loading (refer to
Mitchell et al., 1995 for details of this method). The indirect
effects of aerosols were not simulated. The modelled control
climate shows a negligible long term trend in surface air
temperature over the first 400 years. The trend is about +0.04
degrees C per century, which is comparable to other such
experiments. HadCM2CON represents an improvement over previous
generations of GCMs that have been used at the Hadley Centre
(Johns et al., 1995 and Airey et al., 1995). The experiments
performed have simulated the observed climate system using
estimated forcing perturbations since 1860. Johns et al., (1995)
and Mitchell et al., (1995) have established that HadCM2's
sensitivity is consistent with the real climate system. The
agreement between the observed global-mean temperature record
and that produced in these experiments is better for HadCM2GS
than for HadCM2GG. This implies that HadCM2Gs has captured the
observed signal of global-mean temperature changes better than
HadCM2GG for the recent 100-year record. The climate
sensitivity of HadCM2 is about 2.5 degrees C Like B1, the B2 world is one of increased concern for
environmental and social sustainability, but the character of
this world differs substantially. Education and welfare
programs are widely pursued leading to reductions in mortality
and, to a lesser extent, fertility. The population reaches about
10 billion people by 2100, consistent with both the United
Nations and IIASA median projections. Income per capita grows at
an intermediary rate to reach about US$12,000 by 2050. By 2100
the global economy might expand to reach some US$250 trillion.
International income differences decrease, although not as
rapidly as in scenarios of higher global convergence (A1, B1).
Local inequity is reduced considerably through the development
of stronger community support networks. Generally high
educational levels promote both development and environmental
protection. Indeed, environmental protection is one of the few
remaining truly international priorities. However, strategies to
address global environmental challenges are less successful than
in B1, as governments have difficulty designing and implementing
agreements that combine environmental protection with mutual
economic benefits. The B2 storyline presents a particularly
favorable climate for community initiative and social
innovation, especially in view of high educational levels.
Technological frontiers are pushed less than in A1 and B1 and
innovations are also regionally more heterogeneous. Globally,
investment in R and D continues its current declining trend, and
mechanisms for international diffusion of technology and
know-how remain weaker than in scenarios A1 and B1 (but higher
than in scenario A2). Some regions with rapid economic
development and limited natural resources place particular
emphasis on technology development and bilateral co-operation.
Technical change is therefore uneven. The energy intensity of
GDP declines at about one percent per year, in line with the
average historical experience of the last two centuries.
Land-use management becomes better integrated at the local level
in the B2 world. Urban and transport infrastructure is a
particular focus of community innovation, contributing to a low
level of car dependence and less urban sprawl. An emphasis on
food self-reliance contributes to a shift in dietary patterns
towards local products, with reduced meat consumption in
countries with high population densities. Energy systems differ
from region to region, depending on the availability of natural
resources. The need to use energy and other resources more
efficiently spurs the development of less carbon-intensive
technology in some regions. Environment policy cooperation at
the regional level leads to success in the management of some
transboundary environmental problems, such as acidification due
to SO2, especially to sustain regional self-reliance in
agricultural production. Regional cooperation also results in
lower emissions of NOx and VOCs, reducing the incidence of
elevated tropospheric ozone levels. Although globally the energy
system remains predominantly hydrocarbon-based to 2100, there is
a gradual transition away from the current share of fossil
resources in world energy supply, with a corresponding reduction
in carbon intensity.