Abstract
Abstract The author has reconsidered the question of the regulation of tropical sea surface temperature. This has been done in general terms through consideration of the tropical beat budget and in specific terms through consideration of an idealized radiative-dynamic model of the tropical general circulation. It is argued that evaporation on its own cannot provide an effective regulating mechanism. Clouds cannot serve as regulators unless there are substantial departures from the observed cancellation between cloud greenhouse and cloud albedo effects. In particular, it is shown that the prediction by Ramanathan and Collins of highly stable tropical climates is based on an inconsistent set of assumptions about the behavior of the atmospheric heat transports. When the heat transports are treated in a consistent manner, clouds are found to have little impact, and the tropical climate can he quite sensitive to radiative perturbations. It is found that the main determinant of tropical climate is the clear-sky...
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