The Overlooked Role of the Stratosphere Under a Solar Constant Reduction
Abstract Modeling experiments reducing surface temperatures via an idealized reduction of the solar constant have often been used as analogs for Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI), thereby implicitly assuming that solar dimming captures the essential physical mechanism through which SAI influence...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL098773 |
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| author | Ewa M. Bednarz Daniele Visioni Antara Banerjee Peter Braesicke Ben Kravitz Douglas G. MacMartin |
| author_facet | Ewa M. Bednarz Daniele Visioni Antara Banerjee Peter Braesicke Ben Kravitz Douglas G. MacMartin |
| author_sort | Ewa M. Bednarz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Modeling experiments reducing surface temperatures via an idealized reduction of the solar constant have often been used as analogs for Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI), thereby implicitly assuming that solar dimming captures the essential physical mechanism through which SAI influences surface climate. While the omission of some important processes that otherwise operate under SAI was identified before, here we demonstrate that the imposed reduction in the incoming solar radiation also induces a different stratospheric dynamical response, manifested through a weakening of the polar vortex, that propagates from the upper stratosphere down to the troposphere. The coupled stratospheric‐tropospheric response exerts a previously overlooked first‐order influence on southern hemispheric surface climate in the solar dimming experiments, including on the position of the tropospheric jet and Hadley Circulation and thus, ultimately, precipitation patterns. This perturbation, opposite to that expected under SAI, highlights the need for caution when attributing responses in idealized experiments. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-189a9c63830240d2932f18fa92873694 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-189a9c63830240d2932f18fa928736942025-01-22T14:38:16ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072022-06-014912n/an/a10.1029/2022GL098773The Overlooked Role of the Stratosphere Under a Solar Constant ReductionEwa M. Bednarz0Daniele Visioni1Antara Banerjee2Peter Braesicke3Ben Kravitz4Douglas G. MacMartin5Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Cornell University Ithaca NY USASibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Cornell University Ithaca NY USACooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences University of Colorado Boulder Boulder CO USAIMK‐ASF Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Eggenstein‐Leopoldshafen GermanyDepartment of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Indiana University Bloomington IN USASibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Cornell University Ithaca NY USAAbstract Modeling experiments reducing surface temperatures via an idealized reduction of the solar constant have often been used as analogs for Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI), thereby implicitly assuming that solar dimming captures the essential physical mechanism through which SAI influences surface climate. While the omission of some important processes that otherwise operate under SAI was identified before, here we demonstrate that the imposed reduction in the incoming solar radiation also induces a different stratospheric dynamical response, manifested through a weakening of the polar vortex, that propagates from the upper stratosphere down to the troposphere. The coupled stratospheric‐tropospheric response exerts a previously overlooked first‐order influence on southern hemispheric surface climate in the solar dimming experiments, including on the position of the tropospheric jet and Hadley Circulation and thus, ultimately, precipitation patterns. This perturbation, opposite to that expected under SAI, highlights the need for caution when attributing responses in idealized experiments.https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL098773geoengineeringsulfate aerosol injectionchemistry‐climate interactionsstratospheric ozone |
| spellingShingle | Ewa M. Bednarz Daniele Visioni Antara Banerjee Peter Braesicke Ben Kravitz Douglas G. MacMartin The Overlooked Role of the Stratosphere Under a Solar Constant Reduction Geophysical Research Letters geoengineering sulfate aerosol injection chemistry‐climate interactions stratospheric ozone |
| title | The Overlooked Role of the Stratosphere Under a Solar Constant Reduction |
| title_full | The Overlooked Role of the Stratosphere Under a Solar Constant Reduction |
| title_fullStr | The Overlooked Role of the Stratosphere Under a Solar Constant Reduction |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Overlooked Role of the Stratosphere Under a Solar Constant Reduction |
| title_short | The Overlooked Role of the Stratosphere Under a Solar Constant Reduction |
| title_sort | overlooked role of the stratosphere under a solar constant reduction |
| topic | geoengineering sulfate aerosol injection chemistry‐climate interactions stratospheric ozone |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL098773 |
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