Summary
A model of the polluted arctic troposphere is constructed to estimate the magnitude and seasonal variation of the climate forcing function of arctic haze. Using a pill-box “bathtub model” for the Arctic and envisioning it to be filled with pollution from industrial sources in Eurasia, we estimate that maximum climate perturbation from arctic contamination occurs in the spring months. The major perturbation to the radiation budget is a lowering of the albedo (heating) of the earth-atmosphere system around the vernal equinox and is due to a trace amount (about 5% by mass) of black carbon associated with the removal-resistant submicron mode of aerosols. The black carbon over the reflecting polar ice/snow introduces a heating of about 1.5 degree per day into the haze layer.
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Shaw, G.E., Stamnes, K. & Hu, Y.X. Arctic haze: Perturbation to the radiation field. Meteorl. Atmos. Phys. 51, 227–235 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01030496
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01030496