The hemispheric contrast in cloud microphysical properties constrains aerosol forcing.

ABSTRACT: The change in planetary albedo due to aerosol-cloud interactions during the industrial era is the leading source of uncertainty in inferring Earth's climate sensitivity to increased greenhouse gases from the historical record. The variable that controls aerosol-cloud interactions in warm clouds is droplet number concentration. Global climate models demonstrate that the present-day hemispheric contrast in cloud droplet number concentration between the pristine Southern Hemisphere and the polluted Northern Hemisphere oceans can be used as a proxy for anthropogenically driven change in cloud droplet number concentration. Remotely sensed estimates constrain this change in droplet number concentration to be between 8 cm^-3 and 24 cm^-3 By extension, the radiative forcing sin

SUBMITTER: McCoy IL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7431023 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature