Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions
www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net
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9
1
2009
10.5194/acpd-9-4691-2009
http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/4691/2009/
http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/4691/2009/acpd-9-4691-2009.html
http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/4691/2009/acpd-9-4691-2009.pdf
4691
4725
2009-02-24
Impacts of aerosol indirect effect on past and future changes in tropospheric composition
N. Unger
nunger@giss.nasa.gov
S. Menon
D. T. Shindell
D. M. Koch
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY, USA
Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
The development of effective emissions control policies that
are beneficial to both climate and air quality requires
a detailed understanding of all the feedbacks in the
atmospheric composition and climate system. We perform
sensitivity studies with a global atmospheric
composition-climate model to assess the impact of aerosols on
tropospheric chemistry through their modification on clouds,
the aerosol indirect effect (AIE). The model includes coupling
between both tropospheric gas-phase and aerosol chemistry and
aerosols and liquid-phase clouds. We investigate past impacts
from preindustrial (PI) to present day (PD) and future impacts
from PD to 2050 (for the moderate IPCC A1B scenario) that
embrace a wide spectrum of precursor emission changes and
consequential aerosol-cloud interactions. The AIE is estimated
to be −2.0 W m<sup>−2</sup> for PD–PI and
−0.6 W m<sup>−2</sup> for 2050–PD, at the high end of
current estimates. Inclusion of aerosol-cloud interactions
substantially impacts changes in global mean methane lifetime
across both time periods, enhancing the past and future
increases by 10% and 30%, respectively. In regions where
pollution emissions increase, inclusion of aerosol-cloud
effects leads to 20% enhancements in in-cloud sulfate
production and ~10% enhancements in sulfate wet
deposition that is displaced away from the immediate source
regions. The enhanced in-cloud sulfate formation leads to
larger increases in surface sulfate across polluted regions
(~10–30%). Nitric acid wet deposition is dampened
by 15–20% across the industrialized regions due to AIE
allowing additional re-release of reactive nitrogen that
contributes to 1–2 ppbv increases in surface ozone in
outflow regions. Our model findings indicate that
aerosol-cloud interactions must be considered in studies of
methane trends and projections of future changes to
particulate matter air quality.
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