Decrease in radiative forcing by organic aerosol nucleation, climate, and land use change

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 423 - 7
• Main Authors: Zhu, Jialei, Penner, Joyce E., Yu, Fangqun, Sillman, Sanford, Andreae, Meinrat O., Coe, Hugh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 24.01.2019; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 704/106/35/824; 704/106/694/1108; Aerosols; Anthropogenic factors; Atmospheric aerosols; Boundary layers; Climate change; Computer simulation; Humanities and Social Sciences; Land use; multidisciplinary; Nucleation; Radiative forcing; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Size distribution; Sulfate; Sulfuric acid; Tropical environments
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08407-7

Organic nucleation is an important source of atmospheric aerosol number concentration, especially in pristine continental regions and during the preindustrial period. Here, we improve on previous simulations that overestimate boundary layer nucleation in the tropics and add changes to climate and land use to evaluate climate forcing. Our model includes both pure organic nucleation and heteromolecular nucleation of sulfuric acid and organics and reproduces the profile of aerosol number concentration measured in the Amazon. Organic nucleation decreases the sum of the total aerosol direct and indirect radiative forcing by 12.5%. The addition of climate and land use change decreases the direct radiative forcing (−0.38 W m −2 ) by 6.3% and the indirect radiative forcing (−1.68 W m −2 ) by 3.5% due to the size distribution and number concentration change of secondary organic aerosol and sulfate. Overall, the total radiative forcing associated with anthropogenic aerosols is decreased by 16%. Organic nucleation is an important source of atmospheric aerosol number concentration, especially in pristine continental regions and during the preindustrial period. Here the authors find a 16% reduced radiative forcing associated with anthropogenic aerosols when including organic nucleation together with climate and land use change.