Related papers: Phase relation between global temperature and atmo…
The early Universe was characterized by the presence of heavy particles that decoupled at different temperatures leading to different phases of the Universe. This had a consequences on the time evolution of the thermodynamic and the…
The most important recent results in the theory of phase transitions and quantum effects in quantum anharmonic crystals are presented and discussed. In particular, necessary and sufficient conditions for a phase transition to occur at some…
A number of brown dwarfs are now known to be variable with observed amplitudes as large as 10-30% at some wavelengths. While spatial inhomogeneities in cloud coverage and thickness are likely responsible for much of the observed…
Ozone in Earth's atmosphere is known to have a radiative forcing effect on climate. Motivated by geochemical evidence for one or more nearby supernovae about 2.6 million years ago, we have investigated the question of whether a supernova at…
Herein we show that the historical records of mid-latitude auroras from 1700 to 1966 present oscillations with periods of about 9, 10-11, 20-21, 30 and 60 years. The same frequencies are found in proxy and instrumental global surface…
The global mean surface temperature is widely studied to monitor climate change. A current debate centers around whether there has been a recent (post-1970s) surge/acceleration in the warming rate. This paper addresses whether an…
Unconstrained CO2 emission from fossil fuel burning has been the dominant cause of observed anthropogenic global warming. The amounts of "proven" and potential fossil fuel reserves are uncertain and debated. Regardless of the true values,…
We compare the performance of a recently proposed empirical climate model based on astronomical harmonics against all available general circulation climate models (GCM) used by the IPCC (2007) to interpret the 20th century global surface…
The Anthropocene is characterized by close interdependencies between the natural Earth system and the human society, posing novel challenges to model development. Here we present a conceptual model describing the long-term coevolution of…
Soil has been recognized as an indirect driver of global warming by regulating atmospheric greenhouse gases. However, in view of the higher heat capacity and CO2 concentration in soil than those in atmosphere, the direct contributions of…
By generalizing the theory of convection to any type of thermal and compositional source terms (diabatic processes), we show that thermohaline convection in Earth oceans, fingering convection in stellar atmospheres, and moist convection in…
One the major factors determining the development and evolution of atmospheric convection is the sea surface temperature and its variability. Results of this thesis show that state of atmospheric convection impacts the diurnal distribution…
Phase transitions impose topological constraints on thermodynamic state variables, masking energetic fluctuations at the phase boundary. This constraint is most apparent in melting systems, where temperature remains pinned despite continued…
Carbon dioxide (CO2), an important trace species that is gradually increasing in the atmosphere due to anthropogenic activities, causes enhanced warming in the lower atmosphere. The increased concentration of CO2 in the upper atmosphere…
Conventionally, a habitable planet is one that can support liquid water on its surface. Habitability depends on temperature, which is set by insolation and the greenhouse effect, due mainly to CO2 and water vapor. The CO2 level is increased…
The state of earth's climate is constrained by well-known physical principles such as energy balance and the conservation of energy. Increased greenhouse gas concentrations affect the atmospheric optical depth, and physical consistency…
Cumulative emissions accounting for carbon-dioxide (CO2) is founded on recognition that global warming in Earth System Models (ESMs) is roughly proportional to cumulative CO2 emissions, regardless of emissions pathway. However, cumulative…
Starting from basic physical principles, we present a novel derivation linking the global wind power to measurable atmospheric parameters. The resulting expression distinguishes three components of the atmospheric power (the kinetic power…
A modification of the classical primitive equations of the atmosphere is considered in order to take into account important phase transition phenomena due to air saturation and condensation. We provide a mathematical formulation of the…
The physical principles governing the planetary atmospheres are briefly introduced in the first part of this chapter, moving from the examples of Solar System bodies. Namely, the concepts of collisional regime, balance equations,…