Could geoengineering research help answer one of the biggest questions in climate science?: GEOENGINEERING RESEARCH
Abstract
Anthropogenic aerosol impacts on clouds constitute the largest source of uncertainty in quantifying the radiative forcing of climate, and hinders our ability to determine Earth's climate sensitivity to greenhouse gas increases. Representation of aerosol–cloud interactions in global models is particularly challenging because these interactions occur on typically unresolved scales. Observational studies show influences of aerosol on clouds, but correlations between aerosol and clouds are insufficient to constrain aerosol forcing because of the difficulty in separating aerosol and meteorological impacts. In this commentary, we argue that this current impasse may be overcome with the development of approaches to conduct control experiments whereby aerosol particle perturbations can be introduced into patches of marine low clouds in a systematic manner. Such cloud perturbation experiments constitute a fresh approach to climate science and would provide unprecedented data to untangle the effects of aerosol particles on cloud microphysics and the resulting reflection of solar radiation by clouds. Here, the control experiments would provide a critical test of high-resolution models that are used to develop an improved representation aerosol–cloud interactions needed to better constrain aerosol forcing in global climate models.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[1];
[2];
- Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Ocean Conservancy, Washington, D.C. (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1390443
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-127932
Journal ID: ISSN 2328-4277
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Earth's Future
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 5; Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 2328-4277
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; 58 GEOSCIENCES; geoengineering; marine cloud brightening; clouds
Citation Formats
Wood, Robert, Ackerman, Thomas, Rasch, Philip J., and Wanser, Kelly. Could geoengineering research help answer one of the biggest questions in climate science?: GEOENGINEERING RESEARCH. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1002/2017EF000601.
Wood, Robert, Ackerman, Thomas, Rasch, Philip J., & Wanser, Kelly. Could geoengineering research help answer one of the biggest questions in climate science?: GEOENGINEERING RESEARCH. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017EF000601
Wood, Robert, Ackerman, Thomas, Rasch, Philip J., and Wanser, Kelly. Thu .
"Could geoengineering research help answer one of the biggest questions in climate science?: GEOENGINEERING RESEARCH". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017EF000601. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1390443.
@article{osti_1390443,
title = {Could geoengineering research help answer one of the biggest questions in climate science?: GEOENGINEERING RESEARCH},
author = {Wood, Robert and Ackerman, Thomas and Rasch, Philip J. and Wanser, Kelly},
abstractNote = {Anthropogenic aerosol impacts on clouds constitute the largest source of uncertainty in quantifying the radiative forcing of climate, and hinders our ability to determine Earth's climate sensitivity to greenhouse gas increases. Representation of aerosol–cloud interactions in global models is particularly challenging because these interactions occur on typically unresolved scales. Observational studies show influences of aerosol on clouds, but correlations between aerosol and clouds are insufficient to constrain aerosol forcing because of the difficulty in separating aerosol and meteorological impacts. In this commentary, we argue that this current impasse may be overcome with the development of approaches to conduct control experiments whereby aerosol particle perturbations can be introduced into patches of marine low clouds in a systematic manner. Such cloud perturbation experiments constitute a fresh approach to climate science and would provide unprecedented data to untangle the effects of aerosol particles on cloud microphysics and the resulting reflection of solar radiation by clouds. Here, the control experiments would provide a critical test of high-resolution models that are used to develop an improved representation aerosol–cloud interactions needed to better constrain aerosol forcing in global climate models.},
doi = {10.1002/2017EF000601},
journal = {Earth's Future},
number = 7,
volume = 5,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Jun 22 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Thu Jun 22 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
Other availability
Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Cited by: 8 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science
Web of Science
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.
Works referenced in this record:
Impacts of increasing the aerosol complexity in the Met Office global numerical weather prediction model
journal, January 2014
- Mulcahy, J. P.; Walters, D. N.; Bellouin, N.
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 14, Issue 9
Observations of a substantial cloud-aerosol indirect effect during the 2014-2015 Bárðarbunga-Veiðivötn fissure eruption in Iceland: VOLCANIC CLOUD-AEROSOL EFFECT
journal, December 2015
- McCoy, Daniel T.; Hartmann, Dennis L.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 42, Issue 23
On the precipitation susceptibility of clouds to aerosol perturbations
journal, January 2009
- Sorooshian, Armin; Feingold, Graham; Lebsock, Matthew D.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 36, Issue 13
Large contribution of natural aerosols to uncertainty in indirect forcing
journal, November 2013
- Carslaw, K. S.; Lee, L. A.; Reddington, C. L.
- Nature, Vol. 503, Issue 7474
Cloud tuning in a coupled climate model: Impact on 20th century warming: CLOUD TUNING AND 20TH CENTURY WARMING
journal, March 2013
- Golaz, Jean-Christophe; Horowitz, Larry W.; Levy, Hiram
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 40, Issue 10
Eastern Pacific Emitted Aerosol Cloud Experiment
journal, May 2013
- Russell, Lynn M.; Sorooshian, Armin; Seinfeld, John H.
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 94, Issue 5
Untangling aerosol effects on clouds and precipitation in a buffered system
journal, October 2009
- Stevens, Bjorn; Feingold, Graham
- Nature, Vol. 461, Issue 7264
Defining success and limits of field experiments to test geoengineering by marine cloud brightening
journal, September 2013
- Wood, Robert; Ackerman, Thomas P.
- Climatic Change, Vol. 121, Issue 3
Atmospheric composition change: Climate–Chemistry interactions
journal, October 2009
- Isaksen, I. S. A.; Granier, C.; Myhre, G.
- Atmospheric Environment, Vol. 43, Issue 33
Aerosols, Climate, and the Hydrological Cycle
journal, December 2001
- Ramanathan, V.
- Science, Vol. 294, Issue 5549
A search for large-scale effects of ship emissions on clouds and radiation in satellite data: SHIP EMISSION INFLUENCE ON CLOUDS
journal, December 2011
- Peters, K.; Quaas, J.; Graßl, H.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 116, Issue D24
The impact of humidity above stratiform clouds on indirect aerosol climate forcing
journal, December 2004
- Ackerman, Andrew S.; Kirkpatrick, Michael P.; Stevens, David E.
- Nature, Vol. 432, Issue 7020
Strong present-day aerosol cooling implies a hot future
journal, June 2005
- Andreae, Meinrat O.; Jones, Chris D.; Cox, Peter M.
- Nature, Vol. 435, Issue 7046
Aerosols implicated as a prime driver of twentieth-century North Atlantic climate variability
journal, April 2012
- Booth, Ben B. B.; Dunstone, Nick J.; Halloran, Paul R.
- Nature, Vol. 484, Issue 7393
Marine cloud brightening
journal, September 2012
- Latham, John; Bower, Keith; Choularton, Tom
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 370, Issue 1974
Preliminary results for salt aerosol production intended for marine cloud brightening, using effervescent spray atomization
journal, December 2014
- Cooper, Gary; Foster, Jack; Galbraith, Lee
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 372, Issue 2031
The Impact of Ship-Produced Aerosols on the Microstructure and Albedo of Warm Marine Stratocumulus Clouds: A Test of MAST Hypotheses 1i and 1ii
journal, August 2000
- Durkee, P. A.; Noone, K. J.; Ferek, R. J.
- Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 57, Issue 16
Marine cloud brightening: regional applications
journal, December 2014
- Latham, John; Gadian, Alan; Fournier, Jim
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 372, Issue 2031
Field experiments on solar geoengineering: report of a workshop exploring a representative research portfolio
journal, December 2014
- Keith, David W.; Duren, Riley; MacMartin, Douglas G.
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 372, Issue 2031
Global indirect aerosol effects: a review
journal, January 2005
- Lohmann, U.; Feichter, J.
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 5, Issue 3
On entrainment rates in nocturnal marine stratocumulus
journal, October 2003
- Stevens, Bjorn; Lenschow, Donald H.; Faloona, Ian
- Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 129, Issue 595
Observing and Forecasting Vog Dispersion from Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii
journal, October 2015
- Businger, Steven; Huff, Roy; Pattantyus, Andre
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 96, Issue 10
Does precipitation susceptibility vary with increasing cloud thickness in marine stratocumulus?
journal, January 2012
- Terai, C. R.; Wood, R.; Leon, D. C.
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 12, Issue 10
Constraining the influence of natural variability to improve estimates of global aerosol indirect effects in a nudged version of the Community Atmosphere Model 5: ESTIMATES OF AEROSOL INDIRECT EFFECTS
journal, December 2012
- Kooperman, Gabriel J.; Pritchard, Michael S.; Ghan, Steven J.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 117, Issue D23
Pollution and the planetary albedo
journal, December 1974
- Twomey, S.
- Atmospheric Environment (1967), Vol. 8, Issue 12
The scale problem in quantifying aerosol indirect effects
journal, January 2012
- McComiskey, A.; Feingold, G.
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 12, Issue 2
The Measurement and Parameterization of Effective Radius of Droplets in Warm Stratocumulus Clouds
journal, July 1994
- Martin, G. M.; Johnson, D. W.; Spice, A.
- Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 51, Issue 13
Relationships between giant sea salt particles and clouds inferred from aircraft physicochemical data: Giant Sea Salt-Cloud Interactions
journal, March 2017
- Dadashazar, Hossein; Wang, Zhen; Crosbie, Ewan
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 122, Issue 6
Does precipitation susceptibility vary with increasing cloud thickness in marine stratocumulus?
journal, January 2011
- Terai, C. R.; Wood, R.; Leon, D. C.
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, Vol. 11, Issue 12
Global indirect aerosol effects: a review
journal, January 2004
- Lohmann, U.; Feichter, J.
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, Vol. 4, Issue 6
Pollution and the Planetary Albedo
journal, January 2007
- Twomey, S.
- Atmospheric Environment, Vol. 41
Global indirect aerosol effects: a review
text, January 2005
- Lohmann, Ulrike; Feichter, Johann
- ETH Zurich
The scale problem in quantifying aerosol indirect effects
journal, January 2011
- McComiskey, A.; Feingold, G.
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, Vol. 11, Issue 9
Works referencing / citing this record:
The Radiative Forcing of Aerosol–Cloud Interactions in Liquid Clouds: Wrestling and Embracing Uncertainty
journal, February 2018
- Mülmenstädt, Johannes; Feingold, Graham
- Current Climate Change Reports, Vol. 4, Issue 1
Mission-driven research for stratospheric aerosol geoengineering
journal, January 2019
- MacMartin, Douglas G.; Kravitz, Ben
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 116, Issue 4
Solar geoengineering as part of an overall strategy for meeting the 1.5°C Paris target
journal, April 2018
- MacMartin, Douglas G.; Ricke, Katharine L.; Keith, David W.
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 376, Issue 2119