La définition est donnée très précisément : (Third Assessment Report)
“The radiative forcing of the surface-troposphere
system due to the perturbation in or the introduction of an agent
(say, a change in greenhouse gas concentrations) is the change in
net (down minus up) irradiance (solar plus long-wave; in Wm−2)
at the tropopause AFTER allowing for stratospheric temperatures
to readjust to radiative equilibrium, but with surface and tropospheric
temperatures and state held fixed at the unperturbed
values”. In the context of climate change, the term forcing is
restricted to changes in the radiation balance of the surfacetroposphere
system imposed by external factors, with no changes
in stratospheric dynamics, without any surface and tropospheric
feedbacks in operation (i.e., no secondary effects induced
because of changes in tropospheric motions or its thermodynamic
state), and with no dynamically-induced changes in the amount
and distribution of atmospheric water (vapour, liquid, and solid
forms)
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