A Filippov framework for a conceptual climate model
Year: 2014
Type: preprint
Abstract: In this article we develop a conceptual climate model based on Earth's energy balance that incorporates ice-albedo and greenhouse gas feedback effects. The resulting model is nonsmooth due to physical constraints on the ice line: it cannot extend beyond the pole or the equator. Because there is no general framework for this type of model, we extend the vector field to the nonphysical region so that we can use the machinery developed by Filippov. Within this framework, we find that the physical region is forward invariant, and that sliding motion occurs on the physical boundary. In addition, we are able to prove that when greenhouse gas dynamics are sufficiently slow in comparison to the motion of the ice line the system exhibits a globally attracting periodic orbit which is reachable in finite time. This orbit can oscillate between wildly different scenarios including fully glaciated, partially glaciated, and ice-free states.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1590325230