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Projected response of East Asian summer monsoon system to future reductions in emissions of anthropogenic aerosols and their precursors

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Abstract

The response of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) system to reductions in emissions of anthropogenic aerosols and their precursors at the end of the twenty-first century projected by Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 is studied using an aerosol-climate model with aerosol direct, semi-direct, and indirect effects included. Our results show that the global annual mean aerosol effective radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) is +1.45 W m−2 from 2000 to 2100. The summer mean net all-sky shortwave fluxes averaged over the East Asian monsoon region (EAMR) at the TOA and surface increased by +3.9 and +4.0 W m−2, respectively, due to the reductions of aerosols in 2100 relative to 2000. Changes in radiations affect local thermodynamic and dynamic processes and the hydrological cycle. The summer mean surface temperature and pressure averaged over the EAMR are shown to increase by 1.7 K and decreased by 0.3 hPa, respectively, due to the reduced aerosols. The magnitudes of these changes are larger over land than ocean, causing a marked increase in the contrast of land-sea surface temperature and pressure in the EAMR, thus strengthening the EASM. The summer mean southwest and south winds at 850 hPa are enhanced over eastern and southern China and the surrounding oceans, and the East Asian subtropical jet shifted northward due to the decreases of aerosols. These factors also indicate enhanced EASM circulation, which in turn causes a 10 % increase in summer mean precipitation averaged over the EAMR.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2011CB403405), National Natural Science Foundation of China (41575139), and Public Meteorology Special Foundation of MOST (GYHY201406023).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Zhili Wang & Xiaoye Zhang

  2. Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China

    Zhili Wang

  3. Laboratory for Climate Studies, National Climate Center, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, 100081, China

    Hua Zhang

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  1. Zhili Wang
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Correspondence to Zhili Wang.

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Wang, Z., Zhang, H. & Zhang, X. Projected response of East Asian summer monsoon system to future reductions in emissions of anthropogenic aerosols and their precursors. Clim Dyn 47, 1455–1468 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2912-7

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