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Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Acronym List." National Research Council. 2011. Climate Stabilization Targets: Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts over Decades to Millennia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12877.
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Appendix D
Acronym List

A1B a “medium” emissions scenario; part of the SRES in the IPCC

AAO Antarctic Oscillation

AAR Accumulation Area Ratios

ACC America’s Climate Choices

ACIA Arctic Climate Impact Assessment

AOGCM Atmosphere-ocean General Circulation Model

AR5 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Fifth Assessment Report

ASO August, September, October

BECS bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration

C4MIP Coupled Carbon Cycle Climate Model Intercomparison Project

Ca2+ calcium ions

CaCO3 calcium carbonate

CALFED Calfed Bay-Delta Program

CCSP SAP Climate Change Science Program Synthesis and Assessment Product

CH4 methane

CMIP3 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 3

CO2 carbon dioxide

CO32 carbonate ions

CRU Climate Research Unit (of the University of East Anglia)

D&A detection and attribution

DIC dissolved inorganic carbon

DJF December, January, February

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Acronym List." National Research Council. 2011. Climate Stabilization Targets: Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts over Decades to Millennia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12877.
×

ECMWF European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts

EMICs Earth models of intermediate complexity

ENSO El Niño/Southern Oscillation

EPA Environmental Protection Agency

ESCM Earth System Climate Model

FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency

FPN fraction of positive minus negative estimates

GCM general circulation model

GDP gross domestic product

GFDL Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory

GHG greenhouse gas

GISS Goddard Institute for Space Studies

GISS AGCM GISS’s Atmospheric General Circulation Model

GT gigaton

GtC gigaton of carbon (gigaton = 1x109 tons)

GWP global warming potential

H+ hydrogen ion

HadISST Hadley Centre Global Sea Ice and Sea Surface Temperature

HFCs hydrofluorocarbons

IMAGE Integrated Model to Assess the Global Environment

IPCC AR3 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Third Assessment Report

IPCC AR4 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Fourth Assessment Report

IS92a global scenario of the IPCC

ITCZ Intertropical Convergence zone

JAS July, August, September

JFM January, February, March

JGOFS Joint Global Ocean Flux Study

JJA June, July, August

LIG interglacial time period

LMSL local mean sea level

LTMIP Long Term Model Intercomparison Project

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Acronym List." National Research Council. 2011. Climate Stabilization Targets: Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts over Decades to Millennia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12877.
×

m meters

MiniCAM Mini-Climate Change Assessment Model

MOC meridional overturning circulation

MSL mean sea level

N2O nitrous oxide

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NCDC National Climatic Data Center

NH Northern Hemisphere

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NPCC New York City Panel on Climate Change

NRC National Research Council

NSIDC National Snow and Ice Data Center

NYCOEM New York City Office of Emergency Management

PCM Parallel Climate Model

pCO2 pressure of carbon dioxide

PDO Pacific Decadal Oscillation

PDSI Palmer Drought Severity Index

PETM Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

PgC petagram of carbon (petagram = 1×1015 grams)

pH potentiometric hydrogen ion concentration, pH = –log[H+]

ppm parts per million

ppmv parts per million by volume

RCM Regional Climate Model

RCP representative carbon pathways

RF radiative forcing

SAM Southern (Hemisphere) Annular Mode

SAT surface air temperature

SCD snow cover duration

SLE sea level equivalent

SLR sea level rise

SPM Summary for Policymakers (of IPCC)

SRES Special Report on Emissions Scenarios

SST sea surface temperature

SWE snow water equivalent

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Acronym List." National Research Council. 2011. Climate Stabilization Targets: Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts over Decades to Millennia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12877.
×

TA total alkalinity

TCR transient climate response

U.S. United States

USCCSP United States Climate Change Science Program

USCCSP SAP Climate Change Science Program Synthesis and Assessment Product

USGCRP United States Global Change Research Program

UVIC University of Victoria (British Columbia, Canada) model

VIC Variable Infiltration Capacity

WG1, WG2 Working Group 1 or 2 (of IPCC)

WMGG well-mixed greenhouse gases

DWMO World Meteorological Organization

WOCE World Ocean Circulation Experiment

WWAP World Water Assessment Programme

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Acronym List." National Research Council. 2011. Climate Stabilization Targets: Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts over Decades to Millennia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12877.
×
Page 283
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Acronym List." National Research Council. 2011. Climate Stabilization Targets: Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts over Decades to Millennia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12877.
×
Page 284
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Acronym List." National Research Council. 2011. Climate Stabilization Targets: Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts over Decades to Millennia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12877.
×
Page 285
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Acronym List." National Research Council. 2011. Climate Stabilization Targets: Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts over Decades to Millennia. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12877.
×
Page 286
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Emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels have ushered in a new epoch where human activities will largely determine the evolution of Earth's climate. Because carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is long lived, it can effectively lock the Earth and future generations into a range of impacts, some of which could become very severe. Emissions reductions decisions made today matter in determining impacts experienced not just over the next few decades, but in the coming centuries and millennia.

According to Climate Stabilization Targets: Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts Over Decades to Millennia, important policy decisions can be informed by recent advances in climate science that quantify the relationships between increases in carbon dioxide and global warming, related climate changes, and resulting impacts, such as changes in streamflow, wildfires, crop productivity, extreme hot summers, and sea level rise. One way to inform these choices is to consider the projected climate changes and impacts that would occur if greenhouse gases in the atmosphere were stabilized at a particular concentration level. The book quantifies the outcomes of different stabilization targets for greenhouse gas concentrations using analyses and information drawn from the scientific literature. Although it does not recommend or justify any particular stabilization target, it does provide important scientific insights about the relationships among emissions, greenhouse gas concentrations, temperatures, and impacts.

Climate Stabilization Targets emphasizes the importance of 21st century choices regarding long-term climate stabilization. It is a useful resource for scientists, educators and policy makers, among others.

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