xxi, 308 pages : 22 cm

Results of a 3-week intensive examination of the present and potential climatic effects of man's activities by 30 of the world's leading atmospheric scientists from 14 countries

Sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and hosted by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences

Includes bibliographical references and index

Overview and summary. Interoduction (The focus of SMIC ; The present status of knowledge ; The audiences for the SMIC Report ; Some financial implications of the SMIC recommendations ; Some institutional implications of the SMIC recommendations) ; Major conclusions and recommendations (Previous climate changes ; Man's activities influencing climate ; Present theory and models of climate change ; Effects of man-made surface changes ; Modification of the troposphere ; Modification of the stratosphere) -- Climate and man in perspective. Fundamentals of climate change (The purpose of SMIC ; Definition of climate ; Brief outline of climatic history ; Processes governing the state of the atmosphere) ; Man's activities influencing climate (On predicting the future ; Atmospheric contamination ; Energy production and release ; Land-surface alterations ; Manipulation of surface and underground water ; Weather modification ; Transportation ; The case of the Arctic Ocean ice) -- The theory of climate. Factors governing the climate (Introduction ; Radiative processes ; Ocean-atmosphere transport processes ; Hydrological processes ; General conclusions ; Some implications for implementation of the recommendations) ; The general theory of climate and climate modeling (The physical and mathematical basis of climate theory ; Determinism of climate ; Theoretical models of climate ; Global-average mathematical models ; Feedback mechanisms ; Statistical formulations of climate theory ; Semiempirical theories of climate ; More general mathematical models -- explicit treatment of large-scale dynamics ; General conclusions) -- Effects and impacts. Climatic effects of man-made surface change (Modification of the microclimate ; Snow and ice cover ; The oceans ; The land ; Climatological census ; General conclusions) ; Modification of the troposphere (The planetary radiation field and global albedo ; Particles in the atmosphere ; Sources of particles ; Removal of particles and trace gases ; Particle size distribution ; Spatial distribution and trends of particle concentrationss ; Particles and the radiation field ; Gaseous components ; Cirrus clouds ; Some implications for implementation of the recommendations) ; Modification of the stratosphere (Introduction ; Stratospheric injections by high-flying aircraft ; Stratospheriuc transmission of ultraviolet radiation ; Stratospheric ozone in the oxygen-nitrogen-hydrogen atmosphere ; Sources and sinks of trace gases other than ozone ; Particles in the stratosphere ; General conclusions ; Recommendations ; Some implications for implementation of the recommendations)

Results of a 3-week intensive examination of the present and potential climatic effects of man's activities by 30 of the world's leading atmospheric scientists from 14 countries

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