Earth System Dynamics
Earth System Dynamics
ESD
Articles | Volume 7, issue 3
Articles | Volume 7, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-697-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-7-697-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Articles | Volume 7, issue 3
Research article
 | Highlight paper
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29 Aug 2016
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 29 Aug 2016

Why CO2 cools the middle atmosphere – a consolidating model perspective

Helge F. Goessling and Sebastian Bathiany

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Short summary
Carbon dioxide, while warming the Earth's surface, cools the atmosphere beyond about 15 km (the middle atmosphere). This cooling is considered a fingerprint of anthropogenic global warming, yet the physical reason behind it remains prone to misconceptions. Here we use a simple radiation model to illustrate the physical essence of stratospheric cooling, and a complex climate model to quantify how strongly different mechanisms contribute.
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