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Exploring the Impact of Dust on North Atlantic Hurricanes in a High-Resolution Climate Model

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018gl080642· OSTI ID:1609296
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [2];  [2]
  1. Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States); DOE/OSTI
  2. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)
  3. Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States)
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Herein the relationship between African dust and the climatology of tropical cyclones (TCs) in the North Atlantic is explored using the Community Atmosphere Model at a global horizontal resolution of 28 km. A simulation in which the aerosol model is modified to significantly reduce the amount of airborne dust is compared to a standard simulation. The simulation with reduced dust increases TC frequency globally, with the largest increase occurring in the North Atlantic. The increase in TC activity in the North Atlantic is consistent with an environment that is more conducive for the genesis and intensification of storms. TCs are more frequent (27%) and on average significantly longer lived (13%) in the low dust configuration but only slightly stronger (3%). This results in a 57% increase in accumulated cyclone energy per hurricane season on average. This work has implications for projections of future climate and resulting changes in TC activity.
Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF); State Univ. of New York (SUNY), Albany, NY (United States); Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States); University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); State of Illinois; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357; FC02-97ER62402; SC0016605; SC0016994
OSTI ID:
1609296
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1493475
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 46; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
climate model
dust
geology
high resolution
tropical cyclones