Toward reconciling the influence of atmospheric aerosols and greenhouse gases on light precipitation changes in Eastern China

Wang, Yuan; Ma, Po-Lun; Jiang, Jonathan H.; Su, Hui; Rasch, Philip J.

doi:10.1002/2016JD024845

Title: Toward reconciling the influence of atmospheric aerosols and greenhouse gases on light precipitation changes in Eastern China

Journal Article · Thu May 05 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD024845· OSTI ID:1327141

Wang, Yuan ^[1];

^[2];

^[1]; Su, Hui ^[1]; Rasch, Philip J. ^[2]

California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

The attribution of the widely observed shifted precipitation extremes to different forcing agents represents a critical issue for understanding of changes in the hydrological cycle. To compare aerosol and greenhouse-gas effects on the historical trends of precipitation intensity, we performed AMIP-style NCAR/DOE CAM5 model simulations from 1950-2005 with and without anthropogenic aerosol forcings. Precipitation rates at every time step in CAM5 are used to construct precipitation probability distribution functions. By contrasting the two sets of experiments, we found that the global warming induced by the accumulating greenhouse gases is responsible for the changes in precipitation intensity at the global scale. However, regionally over the Eastern China, the drastic increase in anthropogenic aerosols primarily accounts for the observed light precipitation suppression since the 1950s. Here, compared with aerosol radiative effects, aerosol microphysical effect has a predominant role in determining the historical trends of precipitation intensity in Eastern China.

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Research Organization:: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; ROSES14‐ACMAP project

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 1327141

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA-114060; KP1703010

Journal Information:: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 121, Issue 10; ISSN 2169-897X

Publisher:: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 41 works

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