Shortwave absorption by water vapor and clouds as a source of equability in warm climates

Abstract:

During warm climates as those experienced during the Early Eocene, water vapor content is expected to locally increase at about 6%/K as warmer temperatures allow for larger values of water vapor saturation, and near surface relative humidity is bound to remain relatively constant. This increase in water vapor results in larger clear sky water vapor absorption near the Equator that decreases towards the poles providing a more equable distribution of shortwave radiation at the surface. Additionally, clouds in mid-latitudes are expected to shift polewards, increasing cloudiness in regions that receive less shortwave radiation and decreasing cloudiness in regions that receive more, again acting as a source of equability for climate. We quantify these two effects using atmospheric GCM simulations run under Eocene boundary conditions for 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 times present concentrations of CO2. We attempt to isolate the effect of the surface radiation distribution on the surface temperature gradient using a simple energy balance model.