Impact of anthropogenic aerosols on Indian summer monsoon

Wang, Chen; Kim, Dongchul; Ekman, Annica M. L.; Barth, M. C.; Rasch, P. J.

doi:10.1029/2009gl040114

Cited by 189 publications

(132 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…(Levy et al 2013;Ramanathan and Carmichael 2008;Wang et al 2009)), and that there is typically a substantially greater precipitation response per unit RF than for well-mixed greenhouse gases (Shindell et al 2012a, b). As many impacts are closely related to regional changes in precipitation that directly affect water and food, attribution of damages solely to temperature may be a less accurate approximation for regionally highly uneven forcings.…”

Section: Valuation Of Regional Precipitation Changes Due To Aerosolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The social cost of atmospheric release

2015

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I present a multi-impact economic valuation framework called the Social Cost of Atmospheric Release (SCAR) that extends the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) used previously for carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to a broader range of pollutants and impacts. Values consistently incorporate health impacts of air quality along with climate damages. The latter include damages associated with aerosol-induced hydrologic cycle changes that lead to net climate benefits when reducing cooling aerosols. Evaluating a 1 % reduction in current global emissions, benefits with a high discount rate are greatest for reductions of co-emitted products of incomplete combustion (PIC), followed by sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and then CO 2 , ammonia and methane. With a low discount rate, benefits are greatest for PIC, with CO 2 and SO 2 next, followed by NO x and methane. These results suggest that efforts to mitigate atmosphere-related environmental damages should target a broad set of emissions including CO 2 , methane and aerosol/ozone precursors. Illustrative calculations indicate environmental damages are $330-970 billion yr −1 for current US electricity generation (~14-34¢ per kWh for coal,~4-18¢ for gas) and $3.80 (−1.80/+2.10) per gallon of gasoline ($4.80 (−3.10/+3.50) per gallon for diesel). These results suggest that total atmosphere-related environmental damages plus generation costs are much greater for coal-fired power than other types of electricity generation, and that damages associated with gasoline vehicles substantially exceed those for electric vehicles.

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Section: Valuation Of Regional Precipitation Changes Due To Aerosolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The social cost of atmospheric release

2015

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“…Both observational and modeling studies suggest that local anthropogenic aerosols, especially black carbon over northern India, have major impacts on ISM through the "solar dimming effect" and the "elevated heat pump" (EHP) ef-fect on different timescales (Ramanathan et al, 2005;Lau et al, 2006;Wang et al, 2009b;Kuhlmann and Quaas, 2010;Nigam and Bollasina, 2010;Bollasina et al, 2011;Lau and Kim, 2011;Bollasina et al, 2013). The "solar dimming effect" proposes that the anthropogenic aerosol-induced reduction of north-south land-sea thermal contrast through aerosols' surface cooling effect contributes to a weaker meridional monsoon circulation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consistent response of Indian summer monsoon to Middle East dust in observations and simulations

Jin

Wei

et al. 2015

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. The response of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) circulation and precipitation to Middle East dust aerosols on sub-seasonal timescales is studied using observations and the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with online chemistry (WRF-Chem). Satellite data show that the ISM rainfall in coastal southwest India, central and northern India, and Pakistan is closely associated with the Middle East dust aerosols. The physical mechanism behind this dust-ISM rainfall connection is examined through ensemble simulations with and without dust emissions. Each ensemble includes 16 members with various physical and chemical schemes to consider the model uncertainties in parameterizing short-wave radiation, the planetary boundary layer, and aerosol chemical mixing rules. Experiments show that dust aerosols increase rainfall by about 0.44 mm day −1 (∼ 10 % of the climatology) in coastal southwest India, central and northern India, and north Pakistan, a pattern consistent with the observed relationship. The ensemble mean rainfall response over India shows a much stronger spatial correlation with the observed rainfall response than any other ensemble members. The largest modeling uncertainties are from the boundary layer schemes, followed by short-wave radiation schemes. In WRF-Chem, the dust aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the Middle East shows the strongest correlation with the ISM rainfall response when dust AOD leads rainfall response by about 11 days. Further analyses show that increased ISM rainfall is related to enhanced southwesterly monsoon flow and moisture transport from the Arabian Sea to the Indian subcontinent, which are associated with the development of an anomalous low-pressure system over the Arabian Sea, the southern Arabian Peninsula, and the Iranian Plateau due to dust-induced heating in the troposphere. The dust-induced heating in the mid-upper troposphere is mainly located in the Iranian Plateau rather than the Tibetan Plateau. This study demonstrates a thermodynamic mechanism that links remote desert dust emissions in the Middle East to ISM circulation and precipitation variability on subseasonal timescales, which may have implications for ISM rainfall forecasts.

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“…Future work could also explore aspects of the climate response to emissions other than surface temperature, such as circulation or precipitation (e.g. Ming and Ramaswamy, 2009;Wang et al, 2009). …”

Section: Uncertainties and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The net climate impact of coal-fired power plant emissions

Shindell

Faluvegi

2010

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. Coal-fired power plants influence climate via both the emission of long-lived carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and shortlived ozone and aerosol precursors. Using a climate model, we perform the first study of the spatial and temporal pattern of radiative forcing specifically for coal plant emissions. Without substantial pollution controls, we find that near-term net global mean climate forcing is negative due to the wellknown aerosol masking of the effects of CO 2 .

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Impact of anthropogenic aerosols on Indian summer monsoon

Cited by 189 publications

References 28 publications

The social cost of atmospheric release

The social cost of atmospheric release

Consistent response of Indian summer monsoon to Middle East dust in observations and simulations

The net climate impact of coal-fired power plant emissions

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