The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Assessment Report 6 (AR6), stated that the recent climate change is “widespread, rapid, intensifying and unprecedented in thousands of years.” It is further noted: “Climate change is already affecting every region on Earth in multiple ways. The changes we experience will increase with …
The HadGEM2 earth system climate model was used to assess the impact of biomass burning on surface ozone concentrations over the Amazon forest and its impact on vegetation, under present-day climate conditions. Here the researchers consider biomass burning emissions from wildfires, deforestation fires, agricultural forest burning, and residential and commercial …
Exploitation of the extensive polymetallic deposits of the Andean Altiplano in South America since precolonial times has caused substantial emissions of neurotoxic lead (Pb) into the atmosphere; however, its historical significance compared to recent Pb pollution from leaded gasoline is not yet resolved. We present a comprehensive Pb emission history …
The impact of Asian dust on the determination of cloud phase is analyzed over dust sources and downwind using cloud phase products from cloud-aerosol lidar and infrared pathfinder satellite observations (CALIPSO), atmospheric infrared sounder (AIRS), moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS), and polarization and anisotropy of reflectances for atmospheric sciences coupled …
Ship tracks provide an ideal test bed for studying aerosol–cloud interactions (ACIs) and for evaluating their representation in model parameterisations. Regional modelling can be of particular use for this task, as this approach provides sufficient resolution to resolve the structure of the produced track including their meteorological environment whilst relying …
In this paper, we investigate the coagulation of interstitial aerosol particles (particles too small to activate to cloud droplets) with cloud drops, a process often ignored in aerosol-climate models. We use the GEOS-Chem-TOMAS global chemical transport model with aerosol microphysics to calculate the changes in the aerosol size distribution, cloud-albedo …
Ground and satellite based measurements of spectral optical properties of aerosols have been carried out at Dehradun (DDN) in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) and Kavaratti (KVT) at Lakshadweep in southern Arabian Sea during pre-monsoon season (March–May) 2012. The measurements illustrate distinct seasonal impact on aerosol properties with maximum dust loading …
Biomass burning (BB) largely modifies the chemical composition of atmospheric aerosols on the globe. We collected aerosol samples (TSP) at Cape Hedo, on subtropical Okinawa Island, from October 2009 to February 2012 to study anhydrosugars as BB tracers. Levoglucosan was detected as the dominant anhydrosugar followed by its isomers, mannosan …
The atmospheric concentrations of 17 trace elements (Al, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, S, Ti and Zn) were measured by means of the "lichen-bag" technique in the Agri Valley (southern Italy). The lichen samples were collected from an unpolluted site located in …
While previous research helped to identify and prioritize the sources of error in air quality modeling due to anthropogenic emissions and spatial scale effects our knowledge is limited on how these uncertainties affect climate forced air-quality assessments. Using as reference a 10 yr model simulation over the greater Paris (France) …
Multi-generational gas-phase oxidation of organic vapors can influence the abundance, composition and properties of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Only recently have SOA models been developed that explicitly represent multi-generational SOA formation. In this work, we integrated the statistical oxidation model (SOM) into SAPRC-11 to simulate the multi-generational oxidation and gas/particle …
Numerical model scenarios of future climate depict a global increase in temperatures and changing precipitation patterns, primarily driven by increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations. Aerosol particles also play an important role by altering the Earth's radiation budget and consequently surface temperature. Here, we use the general circulation aerosol model ECHAM5-HAM, …
The Weather Research and Forecasting model with Chemistry (WRF/Chem) simulation with the 2005 Carbon Bond gas-phase mechanism coupled to the Modal for Aerosol Dynamics for Europe and the Volatility Basis Set approach for Secondary Organic Aerosol (SOA) are conducted over a domain in North America for 2006 and 2010 as …
The Arctic has warmed significantly more than global mean surface air temperature over recent decades, as expected from amplification mechanisms. Previous studies have attributed the observed Arctic warming to the combined effect of greenhouse gases and other anthropogenic influences. However, given the sensitivity of the Arctic to external forcing and …
The abandonment of Cantona, a once-fortified Mexican city, has been traced to a centuries-long period of droughts, resulting most probably from climate change. The Mesoamerican metropolis dried up about 1,000 years ago following below-average rainfall from about AD 500 to about AD 1150, believed to be part of a period …
Aerosol–cloud interactions are central to climate system changes and depend on meteorological conditions. This study identifies distinct thermodynamic regimes and proposes a conceptual framework for interpreting aerosol effects. In the analysis, ten years (2003–2012) of daily satellite-derived aerosol and cloud products are combined with reanalysis data to identify factors controlling …
We introduce a simplified version of the soccer ball model (SBM) developed by Niedermeier et al (2014 Geophys. Res. Lett. 41 736–741) into the Community Atmospheric Model version 5 (CAM5). It is the first time that SBM is used in an atmospheric model to parameterize the heterogeneous ice nucleation. The …
The aim of this study is to analyse the amount of atmospheric pollution caused by vehicular traffic and the public strike, during which vehicular traffic is highly curtailed, offers an excellent opportunity for our purpose. The present study is carried out through systematic in situ measurements of particulate matter (PM), …
Cohort studies of the relationship between air pollution exposure and chronic health effects require predictions of exposure over long periods of time. The researchers developed a unified modeling approach for predicting fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, and black carbon (as measured by light absorption coefficient) in six …
This new study provides the first integrated historical examination of the role of both SLCPs (short-lived climate pollutants) and LLGHGs (long-lived greenhouse gases) on wheat and rice yields in India, and finds that the majority of losses are attributable to SLCPs - black carbon and ozone. It has been published …
