Radiative Forcing Calculation

Radiative Forcing (RF) in climatology is a measure of the influence a change in atmospheric conditions has on the balance of incoming and outgoing energy in the Earth-atmosphere system. It is expressed in watts per square meter (W/m²). The formula for calculating RF requires two parameters: the change in concentration (ΔC) of a particular greenhouse gas and the gas's radiative efficiency (RE), which quantifies the efficiency with which a given gas molecule can absorb outgoing infrared radiation. The change in concentration is typically expressed in molecules per unit volume or a related unit, and the radiative efficiency is in watts per square meter per unit increase in concentration (W/m² per unit). This function calculates RF by multiplying the change in concentration of the gas by its radiative efficiency. It's essential for both parameters to be non-negative values, as negative values would not physically make sense.