Description
Current climate challenges and energy concerns have recommended scientists, researchers, and governments to take action in order to reduce carbon footprint and energy consumption. Energy crisis is a broad issue that needs governmental action as well as social engagement. Climate change and society are inseparable; human contribution in climate change is undeniable, on the other hand, climate change increasingly affects human welfare. However, researches have shown that societal and individual engagement in global warming mitigation and their knowledge and motivation to do so is extremely limited. Considering the growing need for energy supplies, the reliability and sustainability of power plants are another area of concern for communities. The energy received by the Earth from the Sun balances the energy lost by the Earth back into space. In this way, the Earth maintains a stable average temperature and therefore a stable climate. As indicated by their name, energy balance models estimate the changes in the climate system from an analysis of the energy budget of the Earth.
This volume presents the coverage of the global energy balance climate models with an emphasis on analytical results. A sequence of increasingly complicated models involving ice cap and radiative feedback processes are solved, and the solutions and parameter sensitivities are studied. In addition, energy balance models of the Earth’s climate, which attempt to take into account surface albedo variations due to changing ice and snow cover, predict that these changes can produce a strong positive feedback to changes in insulation. The book covers the energy balance over land and oceans; calibration of METRIC model to estimate energy balance; Budyko equation; comparison of four different energy balance models; and outstanding energy management strategies and technologies and their merits and drawbacks in the journey of current communities towards sustainability are illustrated as well. The chapters are written by renowned experts in the field, the comprehensive edition to focus completely on energy balance climate models provides a detailed overview of the topic.
