Opinion: The role of AerChemMIP in advancing climate and air quality research

<p><span id="page8290"/>The Aerosol Chemistry Model Intercomparison Project (AerChemMIP) was endorsed by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6) and was designed to quantify the climate and air quality impacts of aerosols and chemically reactive gases. AerChemMIP p...

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Main Authors: P. T. Griffiths, L. J. Wilcox, R. J. Allen, V. Naik, F. M. O'Connor, M. Prather, A. Archibald, F. Brown, M. Deushi, W. Collins, S. Fiedler, N. Oshima, L. T. Murray, B. H. Samset, C. Smith, S. Turnock, D. Watson-Parris, P. J. Young
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2025-07-01
Series:Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Online Access:https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/25/8289/2025/acp-25-8289-2025.pdf
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author P. T. Griffiths
P. T. Griffiths
L. J. Wilcox
R. J. Allen
V. Naik
F. M. O'Connor
F. M. O'Connor
M. Prather
A. Archibald
F. Brown
M. Deushi
W. Collins
S. Fiedler
N. Oshima
L. T. Murray
B. H. Samset
C. Smith
C. Smith
S. Turnock
S. Turnock
D. Watson-Parris
D. Watson-Parris
P. J. Young
P. J. Young
author_facet P. T. Griffiths
P. T. Griffiths
L. J. Wilcox
R. J. Allen
V. Naik
F. M. O'Connor
F. M. O'Connor
M. Prather
A. Archibald
F. Brown
M. Deushi
W. Collins
S. Fiedler
N. Oshima
L. T. Murray
B. H. Samset
C. Smith
C. Smith
S. Turnock
S. Turnock
D. Watson-Parris
D. Watson-Parris
P. J. Young
P. J. Young
author_sort P. T. Griffiths
collection DOAJ
description <p><span id="page8290"/>The Aerosol Chemistry Model Intercomparison Project (AerChemMIP) was endorsed by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6) and was designed to quantify the climate and air quality impacts of aerosols and chemically reactive gases. AerChemMIP provided the first consistent calculation of effective radiative forcing (ERF) for a wide range of forcing agents, which was a vital contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It supported the quantification of composition–climate feedback parameters and the climate response to short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs), as well as enabled the future impacts of air pollution mitigation to be identified, and the study of interactions between climate and air quality in a transient simulations. Here we review AerChemMIP in detail and assess the project against its stated objectives, its contribution to the CMIP6 project, and the wider scientific efforts designed to understand the role of aerosols and chemistry in the Earth system. We assess the successes of the project and the remaining challenges and gaps. We conclude with some recommendations that we hope will provide input to planning for future MIPs in this area. In particular, we highlight the necessity of sufficient ensemble size for the attribution of regional climate responses and the need for coordination across projects to ensure key science questions are addressed. Summary data for CMIP6 and AerChemMIP models such as model components, model configurations, and emergent quantities are included.</p>
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spelling doaj-art-b414fa84089f4e819d5d9e02cea69f592025-08-20T03:16:07ZengCopernicus PublicationsAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics1680-73161680-73242025-07-01258289832810.5194/acp-25-8289-2025Opinion: The role of AerChemMIP in advancing climate and air quality researchP. T. Griffiths0P. T. Griffiths1L. J. Wilcox2R. J. Allen3V. Naik4F. M. O'Connor5F. M. O'Connor6M. Prather7A. Archibald8F. Brown9M. Deushi10W. Collins11S. Fiedler12N. Oshima13L. T. Murray14B. H. Samset15C. Smith16C. Smith17S. Turnock18S. Turnock19D. Watson-Parris20D. Watson-Parris21P. J. Young22P. J. Young23National Centre for Atmospheric Science, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK​​​​​​​School of Chemistry, Bristol University, Bristol, UKNational Centre for Atmospheric Science, Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, UKDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, UC Riverside, Riverside, CA, USANOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ, USAMet Office Hadley Centre, Exeter, UKDepartment of Mathematics & Statistics, Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Exeter, UKDepartment of Earth System Science University of California, Irvine, CA, USANational Centre for Atmospheric Science, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK​​​​​​​Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Atmosphere, Ocean, and Earth System Modeling Research, Meteorological Research Institute, Tsukuba, JapanDepartment of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, UKGEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel & Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, GermanyDepartment of Atmosphere, Ocean, and Earth System Modeling Research, Meteorological Research Institute, Tsukuba, JapanDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USACICERO Center for International Climate Research, Oslo, NorwaySchool of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UKIntegrated Assessment and Climate Change Research Group, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria​​​​​​​NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ, USAUniversity of Leeds Met Office Strategic (LUMOS) Research Group, University of Leeds, Leeds, UKScripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, San Diego, CA, USAHalıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, UC San Diego, San Diego, CA, USAJBA Risk Management Ltd, Skipton, UKSchool of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK<p><span id="page8290"/>The Aerosol Chemistry Model Intercomparison Project (AerChemMIP) was endorsed by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6) and was designed to quantify the climate and air quality impacts of aerosols and chemically reactive gases. AerChemMIP provided the first consistent calculation of effective radiative forcing (ERF) for a wide range of forcing agents, which was a vital contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It supported the quantification of composition–climate feedback parameters and the climate response to short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs), as well as enabled the future impacts of air pollution mitigation to be identified, and the study of interactions between climate and air quality in a transient simulations. Here we review AerChemMIP in detail and assess the project against its stated objectives, its contribution to the CMIP6 project, and the wider scientific efforts designed to understand the role of aerosols and chemistry in the Earth system. We assess the successes of the project and the remaining challenges and gaps. We conclude with some recommendations that we hope will provide input to planning for future MIPs in this area. In particular, we highlight the necessity of sufficient ensemble size for the attribution of regional climate responses and the need for coordination across projects to ensure key science questions are addressed. Summary data for CMIP6 and AerChemMIP models such as model components, model configurations, and emergent quantities are included.</p>https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/25/8289/2025/acp-25-8289-2025.pdf
spellingShingle P. T. Griffiths
P. T. Griffiths
L. J. Wilcox
R. J. Allen
V. Naik
F. M. O'Connor
F. M. O'Connor
M. Prather
A. Archibald
F. Brown
M. Deushi
W. Collins
S. Fiedler
N. Oshima
L. T. Murray
B. H. Samset
C. Smith
C. Smith
S. Turnock
S. Turnock
D. Watson-Parris
D. Watson-Parris
P. J. Young
P. J. Young
Opinion: The role of AerChemMIP in advancing climate and air quality research
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
title Opinion: The role of AerChemMIP in advancing climate and air quality research
title_full Opinion: The role of AerChemMIP in advancing climate and air quality research
title_fullStr Opinion: The role of AerChemMIP in advancing climate and air quality research
title_full_unstemmed Opinion: The role of AerChemMIP in advancing climate and air quality research
title_short Opinion: The role of AerChemMIP in advancing climate and air quality research
title_sort opinion the role of aerchemmip in advancing climate and air quality research
url https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/25/8289/2025/acp-25-8289-2025.pdf
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