| AGCM |
Atmospheric General Circulation Model |
| AIS |
Antarctic Ice Sheet |
| AMO |
Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation |
| AMOC |
Atlantic meridional overturning circulation |
| AMSU |
Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit |
| AO |
Arctic Oscillation |
| AOD |
aerosol optical depth |
| AR |
atmospheric river |
| AW |
Atlantic Water |
| BAMS |
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society |
| BC |
black carbon |
| BCE |
Before Common Era |
| CAM5 |
Community Atmospheric Model, Version 5 |
| CAPE |
convective available potential energy |
| CCN |
cloud condensation nuclei |
| CCSM3 |
Community Climate System Model, Version 3 |
| CDR |
carbon dioxide removal |
| CE |
Common Era |
| CENRS |
Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability (National Science and Technology Council, White
House)
|
| CESM-LE |
Community Earth System Model Large Ensemble Project |
| CFCs |
chlorofluorocarbons |
| CI |
climate intervention |
| CMIP5 |
Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, Fifth Phase (also CMIP3 and CMIP6) |
| CONUS |
contiguous United States |
| CP |
Central Pacific |
| CSSR |
Climate Science Special Report |
| DIC |
dissolved inorganic carbon |
| DJF |
December-January-February |
| DoD SERDP |
SERDP U.S. Department of Defense, Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program |
| DOE |
U.S. Department of Energy |
| EAIS |
East Antarctic Ice Sheet |
| ECS |
equilibrium climate sensitivity |
| ENSO |
El Niño-Southern Oscillation |
| EOF analysis |
empirical orthogonal function analysis |
| EP |
Eastern Pacific |
| ERF |
effective radiative forcing |
| ESD |
empirical statistical downscaling |
| ESDM |
empirical statistical downscaling model |
| ESM |
Earth System Model |
| ESS |
Earth system sensitivity |
| ETC |
extratropical cyclone |
| ETCCDI |
Expert Team on Climate Change Detection Indices |
| GBI |
Greenland Blocking Index |
| GCIS |
Global Change Information System |
| GCM |
global climate model |
| GeoMIP |
Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project |
| GFDL HiRAM |
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, global HIgh Resolution Atmospheric Model (NOAA) |
| GHCN |
Global Historical Climatology Network (National Centers for Environmental Information, NOAA) |
| GHG |
greenhouse gas |
| GMSL |
global mean sea level |
| GMT |
global mean temperature |
| GPS |
global positioning system |
| GRACE |
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment |
| GrIS |
Greenland Ice Sheet |
| GWP |
global warming potential |
| HadCM3 |
Hadley Centre Coupled Model, Version 3 |
| HadCRUT4 |
Hadley Centre Climatic Research Unit Gridded Surface Temperature Dataset 4 |
| HCFCs |
hydrochlorofluorocarbons |
| HFCs |
hydrofluorocarbons |
| HOT |
Hawai‘i Ocean Time-series |
| HOT-DOGS |
Hawai‘i Ocean Time-series Data Organization & Graphical System |
| HURDAT2 |
revised Atlantic Hurricane Database (National Hurricane Center, NOAA) |
| IAM |
integrated assessment model |
| IAV |
impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability |
| INMCM |
Institute for Numerical Mathematics Climate Model |
| IPCC |
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
| IPCC AR5 |
Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC; also SPM – Summary for Policymakers, and WG1, WG2, WG3 – Working Groups
1-3
|
| IPO |
Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation |
| IVT |
integrated vapor transport |
| JGOFS |
U.S. Joint Global Ocean Flux Study |
| JJA |
June-July-August |
| JTWC |
Joint Typhoon Warning Center |
| LCC |
land-cover changes |
| LULCC |
land-use and land-cover change |
| MAM |
March-April-May |
| MSU |
Microwave Sounding Unit |
| NAM |
Northern Annular Mode |
| NAO |
North Atlantic Oscillation |
| NARCCAP |
North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (World Meteorological Organization) |
| NAS |
National Academy of Sciences |
| NASA |
National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| NCA |
National Climate Assessment |
| NCA3 |
Third National Climate Assessment |
| NCA4 |
Fourth National Climate Assessment |
| NCEI |
National Centers for Environmental Information (NOAA) |
| NDC |
nationally determined contribution |
| NOAA |
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
| NPI |
North Pacific Index |
| NPO |
North Pacific oscillation |
| NPP |
net primary production |
| OMZs |
oxygen minimum zones |
| OSTP |
Office of Science and Technology Policy (White House) |
| PCA |
principle component analysis |
| PDO |
Pacific Decadal Oscillation |
| PDSI |
Palmer Drought Severity Index |
| PETM |
Paleo-Eocene Thermal Maximum |
| PFCs |
perfluorocarbons |
| PGW |
pseudo-global warming |
| PNA |
Pacific North American Pattern |
| RCM |
regional climate models |
| RCP |
Representative Concentration Pathway |
| RF |
radiative forcing |
| RFaci |
aerosol–cloud interaction (effect on RF) |
| RFari |
aerosol–radiation interaction (effect on RF) |
| RMSE |
root mean square error |
| RSL |
relative sea level |
| RSS |
remote sensing systems |
| S06 |
surface-to-6 km layer |
| SCE |
snow cover extent |
| SGCR |
Subcommittee on Global Change Research (National Science and Technology Council, White House) |
| SLCF |
short-lived climate forcer |
| SLCP |
short-lived climate pollutant |
| SLR |
sea level rise |
| SOC |
soil organic carbon |
| SRES |
IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios |
| SREX |
IPCC Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change
Adaptation
|
| SRM |
solar radiation management |
| SSC |
Science Steering Committee |
| SSI |
solar spectral irradiance |
| SSP |
Shared Socioeconomic Pathway |
| SST |
sea surface temperature |
| STAR |
Center for Satellite Applications and Research (NOAA) |
| SWCRE |
shortwave cloud radiative effect (on radiative fluxes) |
| LWCRE |
longwave cloud radiative effect (on radiative fluxes) |
| TA |
total alkalinity |
| TC |
tropical cyclone |
| TCR |
transient climate response |
| TCRE |
transient climate response to cumulative carbon emissions |
| TOPEX/JASON1,2 |
Topography Experiment/Joint Altimetry Satellite Oceanography Network satellites (NASA) |
| TSI |
total solar irradiance |
| TTT |
temperature total troposphere |
| UAH |
University of Alabama, Huntsville |
| UHI |
urban heat island (effect) |
| UNFCCC |
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change |
| USGCRP |
U.S. Global Change Research Program |
| USGS |
U.S. Geological Survey |
| UV |
ultraviolet |
| VOCs |
volatile organic compounds |
| WAIS |
West Antarctic Ice Sheet |
| WCRP |
World Climate Research Programme |
| WMGHG |
well-mixed greenhouse gas |
| WOCE |
World Ocean Circulation Experiment (JGOFS) |