• Any changes in the radiative balance of the Earth, including those due to an increase in greenhouse gases or in aerosols, will alter the global hydrological cycle and atmospheric and oceanic circulation, thereby affecting weather patterns and regional temperatures and precipitation.

• For example, significant slowing of the oceanic thermohaline circulation would impact deep-water oxygen levels and carbon uptake by oceans and marine ecosystems, and would reduce warming over parts of Europe.

• A variety of globally aggregated box models of the terrestrial biosphere have also been developed and used, in conjunction with simple models of the oceanic part of the carbon cycle, to project future atmospheric CO2 concentration.