Pristine aerosol concentrations, cloud droplet size and early Holocene climate

• This work investigates how the simulated early Holocene climate is influenced by the representation of aerosols and their effect on the climate. The representations of the direct and first indirect aerosol effects in the Community Earth System Model, version1 (CESM1) are modified in two sensitivity experiments.In the first sensitivity experiment (CESM 9k R14), the first indirect effect on the simulated climate is modified by setting the cloud droplet effective radius, (Reff ) in the model to a constant value. This value is chosen to be representative for pristine conditions. In the second sensitivity experiment (CESM 9k CAMO), the representation of both the direct and first indirect effects is modified. An atmosphere-only model with interactive aerosols is used to simulate the early Holocene aerosol loading and the change in Reff due to the decrease in atmospheric aerosols.The changes in aerosol effects introduced in the two sensitivity experiments differ both in magnitude and spatial pattern. We find that despite the difference in the spatial pattern of the changes in the aerosol effects, the warming patterns in the two sensitivity experiments are similar; the surface temperature increases in both simulations, with an enhanced warming in the Arctic region. The warming is approximately twice as large in the CESM 9k R14 simulation than in the CESM 9k CAMO simulation.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Klimatforskning (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Climate Research (hsv//eng)

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

ovr (ämneskategori)