Quantifying the Importance of Rapid Adjustments for Global Precipitation Changes

Journal Article · Tue Oct 30 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL079474· OSTI ID:1480137

Myhre, G.  ^[1]; Kramer, R. J.  ^[2]; Smith, C. J.  ^[3]; Hodnebrog, Ø.  ^[1]; Forster, P.  ^[3]; Soden, B. J.  ^[2]; Samset, B. H.  ^[1]; Stjern, C. W.  ^[1]; Andrews, T.  ^[4]; Boucher, O.  ^[5]; Faluvegi, G.  ^[6]; Fläschner, D. ^[7]; Kasoar, M.  ^[8]; Kirkevåg, A.  ^[9]; Lamarque, J. ‐F.  ^[10]; Olivié, D. ^[9]; Richardson, T.  ^[3]; Shindell, D.  ^[11]; Stier, P.  ^[12]; Takemura, T.  ^[13] ; Voulgarakis, A.  ^[14]; Watson‐Parris, D.  ^[12]

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1. CICERO Center for International Climate Research Oslo Norway
2. Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric ScienceUniversity of Miami Miami FL USA
3. School of Earth and EnvironmentUniversity of Leeds Leeds UK
4. Met Office Hadley Centre Exeter UK
5. Institut Pierre‐Simon LaplaceCNRS/Sorbonne Université Paris France
6. NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies New York NY USA, Center for Climate Systems ResearchColumbia University New York NY USA
7. Max‐Planck‐Institut für Meteorologie Hamburg Germany
8. Department of PhysicsImperial College London London UK, Grantham Institute‐Climate Change and the EnvironmentImperial College London London UK
9. Norwegian Meteorological Institute Oslo Norway
10. NCAR/UCAR Boulder CO USA
11. Nicholas School of the EnvironmentDuke University Durham NC USA
12. Atmospheric, Oceanic &, Planetary Physics, Department of PhysicsUniversity of Oxford Oxford UK
13. Research Institute for Applied MechanicsKyushu University Fukuoka Japan
14. Department of PhysicsImperial College London London UK

Different climate drivers influence precipitation in different ways. Here we use radiative kernels to understand the influence of rapid adjustment processes on precipitation in climate models. Rapid adjustments are generally triggered by the initial heating or cooling of the atmosphere from an external climate driver. For precipitation changes, rapid adjustments due to changes in temperature, water vapor, and clouds are most important. In this study we have investigated five climate drivers (CO₂, CH₄, solar irradiance, black carbon, and sulfate aerosols). The fast precipitation responses to a doubling of CO₂ and a 10-fold increase in black carbon are found to be similar, despite very different instantaneous changes in the radiative cooling, individual rapid adjustments, and sensible heating. The model diversity in rapid adjustments is smaller for the experiment involving an increase in the solar irradiance compared to the other climate driver perturbations, and this is also seen in the precipitation changes.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Research Council of Norway; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); Natural Environment Research Council (NERC); GENCI (Grand Equipement National de Calcul Intensif); European Research Council (ERC); Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; National Institute for Environmental Studies; Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0012549; NAPEX (229778); 17-EARTH17R-015; NE/N006038/1; 724602; NE/K500872/1; JP15H01728
• OSTI ID: 1480137
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1480139; OSTI ID: 1611846
• Journal Information: Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Vol. 45 Journal Issue: 20; ISSN 0094-8276
• Publisher: American Geophysical Union
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
geology
precipitation changes
climate drivers
radiative kernels
PDRMIP