Radiative forcing from anthropogenic sulfur and organic emissions reaching the stratosphere
Abstract Stratospheric aerosols cool the Earth by scattering sunlight. Although sulfuric acid dominates the stratospheric aerosol, this study finds that organic material in the lowermost stratosphere contributes 30–40% of the nonvolcanic stratospheric aerosol optical depth (sAOD). Simulations indica...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2016-09-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL070153 |
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| author | Pengfei Yu Daniel M. Murphy Robert W. Portmann Owen B. Toon Karl D. Froyd Andrew W. Rollins Ru‐Shan Gao Karen H. Rosenlof |
| author_facet | Pengfei Yu Daniel M. Murphy Robert W. Portmann Owen B. Toon Karl D. Froyd Andrew W. Rollins Ru‐Shan Gao Karen H. Rosenlof |
| author_sort | Pengfei Yu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Stratospheric aerosols cool the Earth by scattering sunlight. Although sulfuric acid dominates the stratospheric aerosol, this study finds that organic material in the lowermost stratosphere contributes 30–40% of the nonvolcanic stratospheric aerosol optical depth (sAOD). Simulations indicate that nonvolcanic sAOD has increased 77% since 1850. Stratospheric aerosol accounts for 21% of the total direct aerosol radiative forcing (which is negative) and 12% of the total aerosol optical depth (AOD) increase from organics and sulfate. There is a larger stratospheric influence on radiative forcing (i.e., 21%) relative to AOD (i.e., 12%) because an increase of tropospheric black carbon warms the planet while stratospheric aerosols (including black carbon) cool the planet. Radiative forcing from nonvolcanic stratospheric aerosol mass of anthropogenic origin, including organics, has not been widely considered as a significant influence on the climate system. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-aa31c6f0a5a14fb2a8f335b9629f379a |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-09-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-aa31c6f0a5a14fb2a8f335b9629f379a2025-08-20T02:31:42ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072016-09-0143179361936710.1002/2016GL070153Radiative forcing from anthropogenic sulfur and organic emissions reaching the stratospherePengfei Yu0Daniel M. Murphy1Robert W. Portmann2Owen B. Toon3Karl D. Froyd4Andrew W. Rollins5Ru‐Shan Gao6Karen H. Rosenlof7Earth System Research Laboratory National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Boulder Colorado USAEarth System Research Laboratory National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Boulder Colorado USAEarth System Research Laboratory National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Boulder Colorado USADepartment of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences University of Colorado Boulder Boulder Colorado USAEarth System Research Laboratory National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Boulder Colorado USAEarth System Research Laboratory National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Boulder Colorado USAEarth System Research Laboratory National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Boulder Colorado USAEarth System Research Laboratory National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Boulder Colorado USAAbstract Stratospheric aerosols cool the Earth by scattering sunlight. Although sulfuric acid dominates the stratospheric aerosol, this study finds that organic material in the lowermost stratosphere contributes 30–40% of the nonvolcanic stratospheric aerosol optical depth (sAOD). Simulations indicate that nonvolcanic sAOD has increased 77% since 1850. Stratospheric aerosol accounts for 21% of the total direct aerosol radiative forcing (which is negative) and 12% of the total aerosol optical depth (AOD) increase from organics and sulfate. There is a larger stratospheric influence on radiative forcing (i.e., 21%) relative to AOD (i.e., 12%) because an increase of tropospheric black carbon warms the planet while stratospheric aerosols (including black carbon) cool the planet. Radiative forcing from nonvolcanic stratospheric aerosol mass of anthropogenic origin, including organics, has not been widely considered as a significant influence on the climate system.https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL070153stratosphereaerosolsradiative forcingorganicssulfate |
| spellingShingle | Pengfei Yu Daniel M. Murphy Robert W. Portmann Owen B. Toon Karl D. Froyd Andrew W. Rollins Ru‐Shan Gao Karen H. Rosenlof Radiative forcing from anthropogenic sulfur and organic emissions reaching the stratosphere Geophysical Research Letters stratosphere aerosols radiative forcing organics sulfate |
| title | Radiative forcing from anthropogenic sulfur and organic emissions reaching the stratosphere |
| title_full | Radiative forcing from anthropogenic sulfur and organic emissions reaching the stratosphere |
| title_fullStr | Radiative forcing from anthropogenic sulfur and organic emissions reaching the stratosphere |
| title_full_unstemmed | Radiative forcing from anthropogenic sulfur and organic emissions reaching the stratosphere |
| title_short | Radiative forcing from anthropogenic sulfur and organic emissions reaching the stratosphere |
| title_sort | radiative forcing from anthropogenic sulfur and organic emissions reaching the stratosphere |
| topic | stratosphere aerosols radiative forcing organics sulfate |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL070153 |
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