Humidity trends imply increased sensitivity to clouds in a warming Arctic
Infrared radiative processes are implicated in Arctic warming and sea-ice decline. The infrared cloud radiative effect (CRE) at the surface is modulated by cloud properties; however, CRE also depends on humidity because clouds emit at wavelengths that are semi-transparent to greenhouse gases, most n...
Published in: | Nature Communications |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1240604 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1240604 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10117 |
id |
ftosti:oai:osti.gov:1240604 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftosti:oai:osti.gov:1240604 2023-07-30T04:00:28+02:00 Humidity trends imply increased sensitivity to clouds in a warming Arctic Cox, Christopher J. Walden, Von P. Rowe, Penny M. Shupe, Matthew D. 2023-06-26 application/pdf http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1240604 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1240604 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10117 unknown http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1240604 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1240604 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10117 doi:10.1038/ncomms10117 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES 2023 ftosti https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10117 2023-07-11T09:05:10Z Infrared radiative processes are implicated in Arctic warming and sea-ice decline. The infrared cloud radiative effect (CRE) at the surface is modulated by cloud properties; however, CRE also depends on humidity because clouds emit at wavelengths that are semi-transparent to greenhouse gases, most notably water vapour. Here we show how temperature and humidity control CRE through competing influences between the mid- and far-infrared. At constant relative humidity, CRE does not decrease with increasing temperature/absolute humidity as expected, but rather is found to be approximately constant for temperatures characteristic of the Arctic. This stability is disrupted if relative humidity varies. Our findings explain observed seasonal and regional variability in Arctic CRE of order 10Wm 2 . With the physical properties of Arctic clouds held constant, we calculate recent increases in CRE of 1–5Wm 2 in autumn and winter, which are projected to reach 5–15Wm 2 by 2050, implying increased sensitivity of the surface to clouds. Other/Unknown Material Arctic Sea ice SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) Arctic Nature Communications 6 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) |
op_collection_id |
ftosti |
language |
unknown |
topic |
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES |
spellingShingle |
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Cox, Christopher J. Walden, Von P. Rowe, Penny M. Shupe, Matthew D. Humidity trends imply increased sensitivity to clouds in a warming Arctic |
topic_facet |
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES |
description |
Infrared radiative processes are implicated in Arctic warming and sea-ice decline. The infrared cloud radiative effect (CRE) at the surface is modulated by cloud properties; however, CRE also depends on humidity because clouds emit at wavelengths that are semi-transparent to greenhouse gases, most notably water vapour. Here we show how temperature and humidity control CRE through competing influences between the mid- and far-infrared. At constant relative humidity, CRE does not decrease with increasing temperature/absolute humidity as expected, but rather is found to be approximately constant for temperatures characteristic of the Arctic. This stability is disrupted if relative humidity varies. Our findings explain observed seasonal and regional variability in Arctic CRE of order 10Wm 2 . With the physical properties of Arctic clouds held constant, we calculate recent increases in CRE of 1–5Wm 2 in autumn and winter, which are projected to reach 5–15Wm 2 by 2050, implying increased sensitivity of the surface to clouds. |
author |
Cox, Christopher J. Walden, Von P. Rowe, Penny M. Shupe, Matthew D. |
author_facet |
Cox, Christopher J. Walden, Von P. Rowe, Penny M. Shupe, Matthew D. |
author_sort |
Cox, Christopher J. |
title |
Humidity trends imply increased sensitivity to clouds in a warming Arctic |
title_short |
Humidity trends imply increased sensitivity to clouds in a warming Arctic |
title_full |
Humidity trends imply increased sensitivity to clouds in a warming Arctic |
title_fullStr |
Humidity trends imply increased sensitivity to clouds in a warming Arctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Humidity trends imply increased sensitivity to clouds in a warming Arctic |
title_sort |
humidity trends imply increased sensitivity to clouds in a warming arctic |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1240604 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1240604 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10117 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Sea ice |
op_relation |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1240604 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1240604 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10117 doi:10.1038/ncomms10117 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10117 |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1772810961109909504 |