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Evidence of strong aerosol cooling implies great efficacy of marine cloud brightening

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Aerosol–cloud interactions are the largest uncertainty in radiative forcing. We combined machine learning and long-term satellite observations to quantify aerosol fingerprints on tropical marine clouds, using degassing volcanic events in Hawaii as natural experiences, and found that cloud cover increased relatively by 50% in humid and stable atmosphere, leading to strong cooling radiative forcing.

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Fig. 1: Cloud cover responses to aerosol perturbation.

References

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This is a summary of: Chen, Y. et al. Substantial cooling effect from aerosol-induced increase in tropical marine cloud cover. Nat. Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01427-z (2024).

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Evidence of strong aerosol cooling implies great efficacy of marine cloud brightening. Nat. Geosci. 17, 375–376 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01428-y

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