Qualitative models of global warming amplifiers

There is growing interest from ecological experts to create qualitative models of phenomena for which numerical information is sparse or missing. We present a number of successful models in the field of environmental science, namely, the domain of global warming. The motivation behind the effort is to enrich the DynaLearn interactive learning environment model repository. We first model two of the negative feedback factors (snow and ice albedo and cooling aerosols), then two of the positive feedback ones (water vapor and warming aerosols). We then combine the two mechanisms in a larger model (low and high clouds), proving the possibility of extracting general mechanisms that can be reapplied to other systems sharing similar characteristics. Two field experts have evaluated the results.