A concise introduction to climate system dynamicsClimate Dynamics is an advanced undergraduate-level textbook that provides an essential foundation in the physical understanding of the earth's climate system. The book assumes no background in atmospheric or ocean sciences and is appropriate for any science or engineering student who has completed two semesters of calculus and one semester of calculus-based physics.Describing the climate system based on observations of the mean climate state and its variability, the first section of the book introduces the vocabulary of the field, the dependent variables that characterize the climate system, and the typical approaches taken to display these variables. The second section of the book gives a quantitative understanding of the processes that determine the climate state-radiation, heat balances, and the basics of fluid dynamics. Applications for the atmosphere, ocean, and hydrological cycle are developed in the next section, and the last three chapters of the book directly address global climate change. Throughout, the textbook makes connections between mathematics and physics in order to illustrate the usefulness of mathematics, particularly first-year calculus, for predicting changes in the physical world.Climate change will impact every aspect of life in the coming decades. This book supports and broadens understanding of the dynamics of the climate system by offering a much-needed introduction that is accessible to any science, math, or engineering student.

Preface xiChapter 1 An Introduction to the Climate System 1Reference and Additional Reading 3Chapter 2 The Observed Climatology 42.1 The Atmosphere 52.2 The Ocean 222.3 The Hydrologic Cycle 332.4 The Cryosphere 422.5 The Biosphere 462.6 Data Sources and References 472.7 Exercises 48Chapter 3 Observations of Natural Climate Variability 493.1 Diurnal and Seasonal Climate Variations 503.2 Intraseasonal Climate Variability 513.3 Interannual Climate Variability 543.4 Decadal Climate Variability 593.5 Climate Variations on Century to Billion-Year Time Scales 633.6 Additional Reading 65Chapter 4 Radiative Processes in the Climate System 664.1 Blackbody Theory 664.2 Application of Blackbody Theory to the Earth System 674.3 How Constant Is the Solar Constant? 694.4 Solar and Terrestrial Spectra 704.5 The Greenhouse Effect 764.6 The Equation of Transfer 824.7 Radiative Effects of Clouds 854.8 References 874.9 Exercises 87Chapter 5 Thermodynamics and the Flow of Heat through the Climate System 895.1 Equations of State 895.2 The First Law of Thermodynamics 915.3 Heat Balance Equations 925.4 Observed Heat Fluxes 985.5 Additional Reading 1075.6 Exercises 108Chapter 6 Dynamics: The Forces That Drive Atmospheric and Ocean Circulations 1096.1 The Coriolis Force 1106.2 Pressure Gradient Force 1166.3 Hydrostatic Balance 1176.4 Geostrophic Balance 1206.5 Friction 1226.6 The Momentum Equations 1236.7 Exercises 123Chapter 7 Atmospheric Circulations 1267.1 Thermally Direct Circulations 1267.2 Midlatitude Circulation Systems 1357.3 Exercises 136Chapter 8 Ocean Circulation Systems 1378.1 Wind-Driven Circulation: Ekman Dynamics 1378.2 The Density-Driven Circulation: The Thermohaline Circulation 1418.3 Vertical Mixing Processes 1428.4 Reference 1468.5 Exercises 146Chapter 9 The Hydrologic Cycle 1489.1 Atmospheric Water Balance 1489.2 Land Surface Water Balance 1519.3 Exercises 152Chapter 10 Radiative Forcing of Climate Change 15310.1 The Atmosphere's Changing Chemical Composition 15410.2 Radiative Effects of Greenhouse Gas Increases 16010.3 Exercises 163Chapter 11 Climate Change Processes 16511.1 Climate Sensitivity 16511.2 Climate Feedback Processes 16611.3 Extreme Hydrologic Events 17111.4 Exercises 172Chapter 12 Climate Simulation and Prediction 17412.1 Zero-Dimensional Climate Model 17412.2 Surface Heat Balance Climate Models 17612.3 General Circulation Models 17712.4 Regional Climate Models 18112.5 Earth System Models 18112.6 Evaluating Model Uncertainty 18512.7 Reference and Additional Reading 18612.8 Exercises 186Appendix A Units, Constants, and Conversions 189Appendix B Coordinate Systems 191Local Cartesian Coordinates 191Earth-Centered Spherical Coordinates 192Appendix C Lagrangian and Eulerian Derivatives 195Index 197