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Title: Indirect aerosol effect increases CMIP5 models projected Arctic warming

Abstract

Phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) climate models’ projections of the 2014–2100 Arctic warming under radiative forcing from representative concentration pathway 4.5 (RCP4.5) vary from 0.9° to 6.7°C. Climate models with or without a full indirect aerosol effect are both equally successful in reproducing the observed (1900–2014) Arctic warming and its trends. However, the 2014–2100 Arctic warming and the warming trends projected by models that include a full indirect aerosol effect (denoted here as AA models) are significantly higher (mean projected Arctic warming is about 1.5°C higher) than those projected by models without a full indirect aerosol effect (denoted here as NAA models). The suggestion is that, within models including full indirect aerosol effects, those projecting stronger future changes are not necessarily distinguishable historically because any stronger past warming may have been partially offset by stronger historical aerosol cooling. In conclusion, the CMIP5 models that include a full indirect aerosol effect follow an inverse radiative forcing to equilibrium climate sensitivity relationship, while models without it do not.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [4];  [5];  [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States)
  3. Par Associates, Las Cruces, NM (United States); New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States)
  4. Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)
  5. Dalhousie Univ., Halifax, NS (Canada)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1239570
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-15-27649
Journal ID: ISSN 0894-8755
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC52-06NA25396
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Climate
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 29; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 0894-8755
Publisher:
American Meteorological Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Arctic; climate models; future climate projections

Citation Formats

Chylek, Petr, Vogelsang, Timothy J., Klett, James D., Hengartner, Nicholas, Higdon, Dave, Lesins, Glen, and Dubey, Manvendra K. Indirect aerosol effect increases CMIP5 models projected Arctic warming. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0362.1.
Chylek, Petr, Vogelsang, Timothy J., Klett, James D., Hengartner, Nicholas, Higdon, Dave, Lesins, Glen, & Dubey, Manvendra K. Indirect aerosol effect increases CMIP5 models projected Arctic warming. United States. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0362.1
Chylek, Petr, Vogelsang, Timothy J., Klett, James D., Hengartner, Nicholas, Higdon, Dave, Lesins, Glen, and Dubey, Manvendra K. 2016. "Indirect aerosol effect increases CMIP5 models projected Arctic warming". United States. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0362.1. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1239570.
@article{osti_1239570,
title = {Indirect aerosol effect increases CMIP5 models projected Arctic warming},
author = {Chylek, Petr and Vogelsang, Timothy J. and Klett, James D. and Hengartner, Nicholas and Higdon, Dave and Lesins, Glen and Dubey, Manvendra K.},
abstractNote = {Phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) climate models’ projections of the 2014–2100 Arctic warming under radiative forcing from representative concentration pathway 4.5 (RCP4.5) vary from 0.9° to 6.7°C. Climate models with or without a full indirect aerosol effect are both equally successful in reproducing the observed (1900–2014) Arctic warming and its trends. However, the 2014–2100 Arctic warming and the warming trends projected by models that include a full indirect aerosol effect (denoted here as AA models) are significantly higher (mean projected Arctic warming is about 1.5°C higher) than those projected by models without a full indirect aerosol effect (denoted here as NAA models). The suggestion is that, within models including full indirect aerosol effects, those projecting stronger future changes are not necessarily distinguishable historically because any stronger past warming may have been partially offset by stronger historical aerosol cooling. In conclusion, the CMIP5 models that include a full indirect aerosol effect follow an inverse radiative forcing to equilibrium climate sensitivity relationship, while models without it do not.},
doi = {10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0362.1},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1239570}, journal = {Journal of Climate},
issn = {0894-8755},
number = 4,
volume = 29,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Feb 20 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Sat Feb 20 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}

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Cited by: 19 works
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Detecting early warning signals of tree mortality in boreal North America using multiscale satellite data
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Improved Aerosol Retrievals Over Complex Regions Using NPP Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite Observations
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