Study ‘finds the core IPCC concept of net radiative forcing at the tropopause is ‘not a useful concept on short timescales because it fails to distinguish between energy absorbed within the [atmosphere itself] and energy absorbed at the [Earth] surface.’ According to the authors, ‘This work begs the question: on what timescales and regimes is the radiative forcing at the tropopause a useful concept and when is the response of the system contingent on the vertical structure of the atmospheric forcing?’
