Stratosphere adjusted radiative forcing calculations in a comprehensive climate model

A new technical procedure is introduced to determine the stratosphere adjusted radiative forcing at the tropopause in the framework; of the 3-D climate model ECHAM4. However, the procedure appears to be appropriate for other GCMs as well. it allows to study in a straightforward way the problem of the general usefulness of radiative forcing as a reliable predictor of climate change. Some examples are given for illustration. It is, once again, confirmed that the climate sensitivity is practically equal for experiments with increased solar insolation and increased CO(2) concentration. However, a higher climate sensitivity is obtained for ozone perturbations with a horizontally or vertically inhomogeneous distribution. The latter finding is in qualitative agreement with respective results reported in other studies, whereas the value of the climate sensitivity is exceptionally high in our model. The physical reasons for the unique model behaviour in the ozone experiments are currently not understood.