Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Global Climate System

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Climate History

  • 4598 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter provides a basic overview of the global climate system. Global climate emerges from the complex interaction over multiple time scales of atmospheric, oceanic, and terrestrial subsystems. These interactions produce characteristic patterns of oceanic and atmospheric circulation, such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, described in this chapter. Both internal variability and external forcings drive short-term variations and longer-term changes in climate, and these properties can render local climates hard to predict with precision.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    Stevens and Schwartz, 2012.

  2. 2.

    Stevens et al., 2013.

  3. 3.

    Schneider, 2006.

  4. 4.

    Wunsch, 2002.

  5. 5.

    Holton and Dmowska, 1990.

  6. 6.

    Bony et al., 2006.

References

  • Bony, S. et al. “How Well Do We Understand and Evaluate Climate Change Feedback Processes?” Journal of Climate 19 (2006): 3445–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holton, J.R., and R. Dmowska. El Niño, La Niña, and the Southern Oscillation. Edited by S.G. Philander. San Diego: Academic Press, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, T. “The General Circulation of the Atmosphere.” Annual Review of Earth & Planetary Sciences 34 (2006): 655–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, B., and S.E. Schwartz. “Observing and Modeling Earth’s Energy Flows.” Survey in Geophysics 33 (2012): 779–816.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, B. et al. “The Atmospheric Component of the MPI-M Earth System Model.” Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 5 (2013): 146–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wunsch, C. “What Is the Thermohaline Circulation?” Science 298 (2002): 1179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Coastal Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Geesthacht, Germany

    Eduardo Zorita & Sebastian Wagner

  2. Department of Geological Sciences, Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Fredrik Schenk

Authors
  1. Eduardo Zorita
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sebastian Wagner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Fredrik Schenk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Sam White

  2. Institute of History, Oeschger Centre for Climate Change, Bern, Switzerland

    Christian Pfister

  3. Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Franz Mauelshagen

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Zorita, E., Wagner, S., Schenk, F. (2018). The Global Climate System. In: White, S., Pfister, C., Mauelshagen, F. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Climate History. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-43020-5_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-43020-5_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-43019-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-43020-5

  • eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation