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
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
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
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