DOI: 10.5063/aa/dpennington.238.2
title: IPCC Climate Change Data: HADCM3 B2a Model: 2050 Precipitation

description: The recent experiments performed at the Hadley Centre have used the new Unified Model (Cullen, 1993). These experiments represent a large step forward in the way climate change is modelled by GCMs and raises new possibilities for scenario construction. This experiment has overcome some of the major difficulties that were associated with the previous generations of equilibrium (circa IPCC 1990) and cold-start transient (circa IPCC 1992) climate change experiments. HadCM2 has a spatial resolution of 2.5 degrees x 3.75 degrees (latitude by longitude) and the representation produces a grid box resolution of 96 x 73 grid cells. This produces a surface spatial resolution of about 417km x 278 km reducing to 295 x 278km at 45 degrees North and South (comparable to a spectral resolution of T42). The equilibrium climate sensitivity (DT2x) of HadCM2, that is the global-mean temperature response to a doubling of effective CO2 concentration, is approximately 2.5 degrees C, although, this quantity varies with the time-scale considered. This is somewhat lower than most other GCMs (IPCC, 1992). In order to undertake a 'warm-start' experiment it is necessary to perturb the model with a forcing from an early historical era, when the radiative forcing was relatively small compared to the present. The Hadley Centre started their experiments performed with HadCM2 with forcing from the middle industrial era, about 1860 Mitchell et al., 1995 and Johns et al., 1995. The greenhouse gas only integrations, HadCM2GG, used the combined forcing of all the greenhouse gases as an equivalent CO2 concentration. A further series of integrations, HadCM2GS, used the combined equivalent CO2 concentration plus the negative forcing from sulphate aerosols. The HadCM2GG integrations simulated the change in forcing of the climate system by greenhouse gases since the early industrial period (taken by HadCM2 to be 1860). The addition of the negative forcing effects of sulphate aerosols represents the direct radiative forcing due to anthropogenic sulphate aerosols by means of an increase in clear-sky surface albedo proportional to the local sulphate loading (refer to Mitchell et al., 1995 for details of this method). The indirect effects of aerosols were not simulated. The modelled control climate shows a negligible long term trend in surface air temperature over the first 400 years. The trend is about +0.04 degrees C per century, which is comparable to other such experiments. HadCM2CON represents an improvement over previous generations of GCMs that have been used at the Hadley Centre (Johns et al., 1995 and Airey et al., 1995). The experiments performed have simulated the observed climate system using estimated forcing perturbations since 1860. Johns et al., (1995) and Mitchell et al., (1995) have established that HadCM2's sensitivity is consistent with the real climate system. The agreement between the observed global-mean temperature record and that produced in these experiments is better for HadCM2GS than for HadCM2GG. This implies that HadCM2Gs has captured the observed signal of global-mean temperature changes better than HadCM2GG for the recent 100-year record. The climate sensitivity of HadCM2 is about 2.5 degrees CLike B1, the B2 world is one of increased concern for environmental and social sustainability, but the character of this world differs substantially. Education and welfare programs are widely pursued leading to reductions in mortality and, to a lesser extent, fertility. The population reaches about 10 billion people by 2100, consistent with both the United Nations and IIASA median projections. Income per capita grows at an intermediary rate to reach about US$12,000 by 2050. By 2100 the global economy might expand to reach some US$250 trillion. International income differences decrease, although not as rapidly as in scenarios of higher global convergence (A1, B1). Local inequity is reduced considerably through the development of stronger community support networks. Generally high educational levels promote both development and environmental protection. Indeed, environmental protection is one of the few remaining truly international priorities. However, strategies to address global environmental challenges are less successful than in B1, as governments have difficulty designing and implementing agreements that combine environmental protection with mutual economic benefits. The B2 storyline presents a particularly favorable climate for community initiative and social innovation, especially in view of high educational levels. Technological frontiers are pushed less than in A1 and B1 and innovations are also regionally more heterogeneous. Globally, investment in R and D continues its current declining trend, and mechanisms for international diffusion of technology and know-how remain weaker than in scenarios A1 and B1 (but higher than in scenario A2). Some regions with rapid economic development and limited natural resources place particular emphasis on technology development and bilateral co-operation. Technical change is therefore uneven. The energy intensity of GDP declines at about one percent per year, in line with the average historical experience of the last two centuries. Land-use management becomes better integrated at the local level in the B2 world. Urban and transport infrastructure is a particular focus of community innovation, contributing to a low level of car dependence and less urban sprawl. An emphasis on food self-reliance contributes to a shift in dietary patterns towards local products, with reduced meat consumption in countries with high population densities. Energy systems differ from region to region, depending on the availability of natural resources. The need to use energy and other resources more efficiently spurs the development of less carbon-intensive technology in some regions. Environment policy cooperation at the regional level leads to success in the management of some transboundary environmental problems, such as acidification due to SO2, especially to sustain regional self-reliance in agricultural production. Regional cooperation also results in lower emissions of NOx and VOCs, reducing the incidence of elevated tropospheric ozone levels. Although globally the energy system remains predominantly hydrocarbon-based to 2100, there is a gradual transition away from the current share of fossil resources in world energy supply, with a corresponding reduction in carbon intensity.