Impact of anthropogenic aerosols on Indian summer monsoon
Authors:
Wang, C., Kim, D., Ekman, A.M.L., Barth, M.C. and Rasch, P.J.
Published in:
Geophysical Research Letters 36, L21704
Date:
November 2009
Summary:
Using an interactive aerosol-climate model we find that absorbing anthropogenic aerosols, whether coexisting with scattering aerosols or not, can significantly affect the Indian summer monsoon system. We also show that the influence is reflected in a perturbation to the moist static energy in the sub-cloud layer, initiated as a heating by absorbing aerosols to the planetary boundary layer. The perturbation appears mostly over land, extending from just north of the Arabian Sea to northern India along the southern slope of the Tibetan Plateau. As a result, during the summer monsoon season, modeled convective precipitation experiences a clear northward shift, coincidently in general agreement with observed monsoon precipitation changes in recent decades particularly during the onset season. We demonstrate that the sub-cloud layer moist static energy is a useful quantity for determining the impact of aerosols on the northward extent and to a certain degree the strength of monsoon convection.
Updated: 2011-01-12
Events
2012-05-23 – 2012-05-23
Mistra-SWECIA Science seminar: The effects of different energy sources and technological progress on climate change
Fossil energy and technological progress are two important factors that potentially influence climate change. Today, the main source of energy is fossil energy, and its use generates CO2-emissions with global warming as result. Technological progress can however improve the energy efficiency and potentially lead to the implementation of alternative clean energy sources that may partially or fully...