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 The EdGCM Project develops and distributes a research-quality global climate model (GCM) with a user-friendly interface that runs on desktop computers. Anyone can explore the subject of climate change using the same methods and tools that scientists employ. The software allows users to experience the full scientific process including:
designing experiments, setting up and running computer simulations, post-processing output, using scientific visualization to display results, and creating scientific manuscripts ready for publishing to the web. |
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Outreach -
Student Projects
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Written by Dominique Alhambra and Christine Kwitek
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Wednesday, 09 May 2007 |
Submitted in partial fulfillment of: Course No. AOS 331, Prof. Jack Williams, Dept of Geography, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison. Fall 2006
 The early anthropogenic hypothesis by William Ruddiman posits that human influence on
climate may have actually begun thousands, not hundreds, of years ago. Increased greenhouse gas
levels were not solely caused by greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning after the start
of the Industrial Revolution, but also caused by our ancestors’ first agricultural developments. The
resultant rise in temperature then delayed the glacial onset that should have occurred naturally.
Through climate simulations with the EdGCM model, we compared pre- and post-industrial levels
to estimated natural levels for five greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and
two chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Our results put our model at, or very close to, an incipient glacial state, supporting the hypothesis of an overdue glaciation. |
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Outreach -
Student Projects
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Written by John Swain and Jeremiah Marsicek
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Wednesday, 09 May 2007 |
 Geologic evidence suggests that during the Sturtian period (~750Ma) of the Neoproterozoic Era the Earth was blanketed by snow and ice. Glacial deposits are found on all continents, including regions that were at low latitudes. Hoffman et al. (1998) brought the snowball Earth hypothesis to the forefront of paleoclimatic scientific interest by offering a specific explanation for the presence of glacial rock formations in mid to low latitude regions, the occurrence of cap carbonates, and the apparent collapse in surface ocean microorganisms. Our experiments using EdGCM examine the possibility that altered obliquity is an alternative possibility for the formation of low latitude glacial deposits.
Submitted in partial fulfillment of: Course No. AOS 331, Prof. Jack Williams, Dept of Geography, U. Wisconsin - Madison. Fall 2006 |
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Outreach -
Exercises
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Written by Mark Chandler
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Sunday, 11 December 2005 |
 Tracking the changes in temperature and snowfall over Greenland is of great interest to scientists because of the concern that global warming could lead to a melting of the Greenland ice sheet and add to rising sea levels.
We are interested in using EdGCM to explore whether or not the climate model can give us insight into the potential for snow to increase in a warming climate, especially over Greenland. |
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Outreach -
Exercises
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Written by Mark Chandler
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Monday, 06 March 2006 |
 The following exercise explores the topic of Global Warming, but first it discusses how you would use a global climate model, and EdGCM, to construct the appropriate Modern climate control runs that are used as the base map for all climate change simulations. This exercise is used at many of our EdGCM training workshops and is a standard for getting started with EdGCM. The simulations used in this exercise come pre-installed with EdGCM 2.4 to EdGCM 3.0. |
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Outreach -
Showcase
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Written by Linda Sohl and Mark Chandler
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Friday, 31 March 2006 |
 Extreme glacial events, the so-called "snowball Earth" intervals, are by far the coldest periods in Earth history, with evidence of ice sheets existing even in tropical regions. By trying to identify the key climate forcings that could have led to such cold conditions, we seek to understand the full natural range of climate variability on Earth. In this report, we simulate the effects of major changes to certain climate forcings in an effort to reproduce, with our model, the climatic conditions suggested by the geologic record. We find that while the combination of reduced solar luminosity, atmospheric CO2 levels, and ocean heat transports does cool the planet significantly, it is still not sufficient to reproduce the first-order characteristics of the Sturtian snowball Earth glaciation.
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Outreach -
Showcase
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Written by Ken Mankoff
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Friday, 12 May 2006 |
 While planning a vacation to Cambodia last fall, I decided to try using an EdGCM simulation to verify information provided in the tour guide books. Though one should not expect statistically significant results from one or two grid cells in a GCM, compared to the limited and qualitative climate information in guidebooks, I discovered that a climate model can provide much more... cloud cover (tanning), soil moisture and ground wetness (camping), wind speed (windsurfing), and diurnal temperature variation. EdGCM, and presumably higher-resolution GCMs, are capable of local scale studies when the scientific accuracy of the results does not require a high degree of quantitative precision. EdGCM provides similar information (spatially and temporally) as guide books and the CIA World Factbook and then provides many additional variables.
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Outreach -
Showcase
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Written by Paolo Zamparutti
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Monday, 07 November 2005 |
 Our first Commmunity Showcase article was written by Paolo Zamparutti of MTG Climate in Italy, and was translated by Giuseppe Petricca. MTG Climate used EdGCM to recreate the climatic conditions of 21 thousand years ago, when our planet was at the peak of the last Ice Age (i.e. The Last Glacial Maximum). |
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