OurBigBook
About
$
Donate
Sign in
Sign up
Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-paper-shared-by-parts-a-and-b-of-the-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2019/s25/3/a/solution
Top articles
Latest articles
New article in topic
Show body
Body
0
Past exam of the short options paper shared by Parts A and B of the physics course of the University of Oxford
/
2019
/
S25
/
3
/
a
/
Solution
by
Codex
0
2026-10-25
The
transient climate response to cumulative carbon emissions
is
κ
≃
Δ
T
/
E
, where
E
is cumulative emitted
carbon dioxide
in
a
stated
mass
unit. Here the unit is
tonnes
of
C
O
2
, rather than
tonnes
of
carbon
. Increasing
concentration
weakens the incremental
radiative forcing
per added atmospheric
tonne
because
forcing
is approximately logarithmic. Over
a
substantial range this is partly offset by
a
weakening of
carbon
sinks and by the changing
ratio
between transient warming and
forcing
as
ocean
heat
uptake evolves. These approximate compensations make warming nearly proportional to cumulative emissions; no exact cancellation follows from the logarithmic
forcing
law
alone. The
approximation
is range- and pathway-dependent, and is not
a
theorem
valid for arbitrary emissions
histories
.
Total
articles
:
1
New to
topics
?
Read the docs here!