The Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism (2018)

simulate weather over long periods of time. These models represent the earth’s atmosphere as a grid of cells that cover the horizontal surface of the earth and extend through the troposphere and stratosphere (See Figure 5). Physical processes such as sun/ cloud interaction, conditions for precipitation formation and evaporation from land surfaces are represented as equations, which are used to calculate values within and between grid cells. Variables tracking pressure, temperature, momentum, density and humidity are updated at fixed time intervals. These key variables along with many others are used to describe the development of the atmosphere over time. Reasonably accurate weather predictions can be made out to a week with such models. However, magnification of error due to the non-linear nature of the equations limits prediction of weather events at about two weeks. Although individual events cannot be predicted, statistics generated from multiple simulations or over multiple years provide insight into the long term behavior of the atmosphere. Using a lower resolution model reduces the computational requirements of each simulation. Therefore, dynamic interactions between the atmosphere, ocean and land over long periods of time can be studied using a reasonable amount of computational resources. For this study the GISS ModelE2 AR5 is used. Development of this model began over three decades ago with the work of Hansen et al. (1983). The current version of the model was included in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) and Gollmer ◀ Post-Flood Ice Age precipitation ▶ 2018 ICC 699 Figure 4. January climate simulations of 30 ˚C oceans by a) Spelman and b) Gollmer demonstrate that a warm Arctic Ocean enhances precipitation. A strong contrast between ocean and land temperatures strengthens the thermal circulation. Since the oceans are warmer, the rising air of the thermal circulation as well as the precipitation is over the ocean. In order for an ice sheet to grow, precipitation needs to occur over the cold continent. Therefore, there needs to be a strong global circulation to drive some of this precipitation inland.