Acceleration by aerosol of a radiative-thermodynamic cloud feedback influencing Arctic surface warming
[1] Recent work suggests that short-lived pollutants with mid-latitude origins are contributing to observed warming of the Arctic surface. Candidate mechanisms include an ‘‘aerosol indirect effect’ ’ associated with increases in cloud longwave emissivity: small cloud droplets associated with pollute...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.615.1030 http://www.inscc.utah.edu/~tgarrett/Publications/Arctic/Acceleration.pdf |
| Summary: | [1] Recent work suggests that short-lived pollutants with mid-latitude origins are contributing to observed warming of the Arctic surface. Candidate mechanisms include an ‘‘aerosol indirect effect’ ’ associated with increases in cloud longwave emissivity: small cloud droplets associated with polluted conditions are efficient absorbers and emitters of longwave radiation. Here, we argue that the associated surface warming can be temporarily amplified: particulate pollution, by increasing cloud emissivity, additionally accelerates a pre-existing positive feedback loop between cloud top radiative cooling and new droplet condensation. Citation: Garrett, T. J. |
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