Applications of Climate Model Calculations/Results to Regional-Scale Features in the Coastal Ocean

Zack Powell (Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley)

Abstract:  I briefly review: (1) comprehensive climate models, and (2) some aspects of global-scale processes that affect regional-scale phenomena in the coastal ocean. Models for the coastal ocean, including those that incorporate some fundamental ecological features, are successful; and I discuss how the coastal models are embedded, across scales, within the larger global models. I examine west coast examples from San Francisco Bay and the watershed of the Eel River. I conclude with brief questions about upscaling — the potential impacts of smaller scale effects upon larger scale — and the need for satisfactory simplifications.