Hockey Stick and Climate Sensitivity

[random23]

I wonder if you might be able to help me with a question I have about climate change, specifically Mann's MBH99 hockey stick graph in relation to climate sensitivity equation. I would like to know where the climate sensitivity equation "Delta T = RF*lamba fits into the making of the hockey stick graph - did Mann use this equation (or some variation of it) when reconstructing paleoclimate temperatures using proxy data i.e. tree rings/ice cores/lake sediments/corals.

Thanks.

 

[Aufbauwerk 2045]

I am not an expert, but at least I can refer you to what I think is a good source of information. Dr. James Powell mentions the hockey stick graph in at least one of his videos, which are available on Youtube, and he may have a more detailed explanation on his site. If not, you can contact him and request some information. I did so myself with a question and he answered fairly quickly. His Bio, which is linked to from his home page, is very impressive.

http://www.jamespowell.org

 

[AlexTheParticle]

Hi there,

I am not an expert on climate science, but I can try to provide some information based on my understanding. From my research, it seems that the climate sensitivity equation you mentioned is a simplified version of the equation used in climate models to estimate the change in global temperature (Delta T) in response to a change in radiative forcing (RF). The parameter lambda represents the climate sensitivity, or how much the global temperature will change for a given change in RF.

In terms of Mann's MBH99 hockey stick graph, it appears that he did use a similar equation to estimate past temperatures using proxy data. According to a paper published by Mann and colleagues in 1998, they used a statistical method called principal component analysis (PCA) to reconstruct past temperatures using proxy data. This method takes into account various factors, including the relationship between temperature and RF, to estimate past temperatures.

So while I cannot say for certain that Mann used the specific climate sensitivity equation you mentioned, it seems that a similar approach was used in his reconstruction of the hockey stick graph. I hope this helps answer your question.