A Study on the “Runaway Greenhouse Effect” with a One-Dimensional Radiative–Convective Equilibrium Model

Nakajima, Satoshi; Hayashi, Yoshiyuki; Abe, Yutaka

doi:10.1175/1520-0469(1992)049<2256:asotge>2.0.co;2

Cited by 231 publications

(299 citation statements)

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“…It is found that for volatile-rich cases, there is hysteresis in the climate system, and two equilibrium temperatures for a given solar constant exist, depending on whether a low-or high-temperature state is used as the starting point. This is essentially the same e ect as has been noted for the runaway greenhouse on Earth (Nakajima et al, 1992).…”

Section: Self-consistent Ocean-atmosphere Equilibriumsupporting

confidence: 79%

“…Kasting et al, 1988 for a discussion) is the only practicable one for studying coupled ocean-atmosphere systems on a planetary scale (Kuramoto and Matsui, 1994;Kasting et al, 1988;Nakajima et al, 1992;McKay et al, 1993;Ingersoll, 1969;Dubouloz et al, 1989 etc.). In reality, while the methane will be close to saturation just over the liquid surface (Flasar, 1983), transport by winds over dry land and loss by precipitation means that, as on Earth, large regions may be out of equilibrium.…”

Section: Introduction and Previous Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analytic investigation of climate stability on Titan: sensitivity to volatile inventory

Lorenz

McKay

Lunine

1999

Planetary and Space Science

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We develop a semiempirical grey radiative model to quantify Titan's surface temperature as a function of pressure and composition of a nitrogen-methane-hydrogen atmosphere, solar¯ux and atmospheric haze. We then use this model, together with non-ideal gas-liquid equilibrium theory to investigate the behavior of the coupled surface-atmosphere system on Titan. We ®nd that a volatile-rich Titan is unstable with respect to a runaway greenhouseÐsmall increases in solar luminosity from the present value can lead to massive increases in surface temperature. If methane has been photolyzed throughout Titan's history, then this runaway can only be avoided if the photolytic ethane is removed from the surface-atmosphere system. #

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Section: Self-consistent Ocean-atmosphere Equilibriumsupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Introduction and Previous Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analytic investigation of climate stability on Titan: sensitivity to volatile inventory

Lorenz

McKay

Lunine

1999

Planetary and Space Science

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“…While large uncertainties remain regarding the radiative effect of water vapor continuum and the nonlinear, 3D effect of dynamics and clouds, the critical value of the average absorbed 2 A similar but slightly subtler limit stems from considering the radiative/thermodynamic equilibrium of the stratosphere (Kombayashi 1967;Ingersoll 1969;Nakajima et al 1992), but it is less constraining in the case considered. A&A 554, A69 (2013) stellar radiation, (1 −Ā)F /4 (where F is the stellar flux at the substellar point andĀ is the planetary bond albedo), should conservatively range between 240 W/m 2 (the mean absorbed stellar radiation on Earth) and 350 W/m 2 (Abe et al 2011).…”

Section: Beyond the Runaway Greenhouse Limitmentioning

confidence: 99%

3D climate modeling of close-in land planets: Circulation patterns, climate moist bistability, and habitability

Leconte

Forget

Charnay

et al. 2013

A&A

247

318

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The inner edge of the classical habitable zone is often defined by the critical flux needed to trigger the runaway greenhouse instability. This 1D notion of a critical flux, however, may not be all that relevant for inhomogeneously irradiated planets, or when the water content is limited (land planets). Based on results from our 3D global climate model, we present general features of the climate and large-scale circulation on close-in terrestrial planets. We find that the circulation pattern can shift from super-rotation to stellar/anti stellar circulation when the equatorial Rossby deformation radius significantly exceeds the planetary radius, changing the redistribution properties of the atmosphere. Using analytical and numerical arguments, we also demonstrate the presence of systematic biases among mean surface temperatures and among temperature profiles predicted from either 1D or 3D simulations. After including a complete modeling of the water cycle, we further demonstrate that two stable climate regimes can exist for land planets closer than the inner edge of the classical habitable zone. One is the classical runaway state where all the water is vaporized, and the other is a collapsed state where water is captured in permanent cold traps. We identify this "moist" bistability as the result of a competition between the greenhouse effect of water vapor and its condensation on the night side or near the poles, highlighting the dynamical nature of the runaway greenhouse effect. We also present synthetic spectra showing the observable signature of these two states. Taking the example of two prototype planets in this regime, namely Gl 581 c and HD 85512 b, we argue that depending on the rate of water delivery and atmospheric escape during the life of these planets, they could accumulate a significant amount of water ice at their surface. If such a thick ice cap is present, various physical mechanisms observed on Earth (e.g., gravity driven ice flows, geothermal flux) should come into play to produce long-lived liquid water at the edge and/or bottom of the ice cap. Consequently, the habitability of planets at smaller orbital distance than the inner edge of the classical habitable zone cannot be ruled out. Transiting planets in this regime represent promising targets for upcoming exoplanet characterization observatories, such as EChO and JWST.

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“…The atmospheric structure and tropopause are determined by a radiative-convective equilibrium model of the gray atmosphere (Nakajima et al, 1992). The troposphere is approximated by a polytrope with polytropic exponent of 1.21.…”

Section: Atmospheric Structure Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stabilization of Venus’ climate by a chemical-albedo feedback

Hashimoto

Abe²

2014

Earth Planet Sp

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It has been suggested that the atmospheric concentration of SO 2 observed on Venus coincides with the equilibrium concentration over pyrite-magnetite assemblage (pyrite-magnetite buffer). If the atmospheric SO 2 abundance is controlled by the chemical reaction at the planetary surface, we expect coupling between the atmospheric SO 2 abundance and the surface temperature. Here, we propose that the pyrite-magnetite buffer combined with cloud albedo feedback controls the surface temperature on Venus. We show that this mechanism keeps the surface temperature in a rather narrow range around the presently observed value against large variations of solar luminosity and total atmospheric mass.

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A Study on the “Runaway Greenhouse Effect” with a One-Dimensional Radiative–Convective Equilibrium Model

Cited by 231 publications

References 0 publications

Analytic investigation of climate stability on Titan: sensitivity to volatile inventory

Analytic investigation of climate stability on Titan: sensitivity to volatile inventory

3D climate modeling of close-in land planets: Circulation patterns, climate moist bistability, and habitability

Stabilization of Venus’ climate by a chemical-albedo feedback

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