Climate sensitivity (Glossary)
In Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, equilibrium climate sensitivity refers to the equilibrium change in global mean surface temperature following a doubling of atmospheric (equivalent) CO2 .concentration. More generally, equilibrium climate sensitivity refers to the equilibrium change in surface air temperature following a unit change in radiative forcing (degrees Celsius, per watt per square meter, (C/Wm-2). One method of evaluating equilibrium climate sensitivity requires very long simulations with the Coupled General Circulation Models (climate model). The effective climate sensitivity is a measure that circumvents this requirement. It is a measure of the strength of the feedbacks at a particular time and may vary with the forcing history and state. climate.