Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-777
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-777
22 Aug 2022
 | 22 Aug 2022

Equilibrium climate sensitivity increases with aerosol concentration due to changes in rain efficiency

Guy Dagan

Abstract. How Earth's climate reacts to anthropogenic forcing is one of the most burning questions faced by today’s scientific community. A leading source of uncertainty in estimating this sensitivity is related to the response of clouds. Under the canonical climate-change perspective of forcings and feedbacks, the effect of anthropogenic aerosols on clouds is categorized under the forcing component, while the modifications of the radiative properties of clouds due to climate change are considered in the feedback component. Each of these components contributes the largest portion of uncertainty to its relevant category and is largely studied separately from the other. In this paper, using idealized cloud resolving, radiative-convective-equilibrium simulations, with a slab ocean model, we show that aerosol-cloud interactions could significantly affect cloud feedback. Specifically, we show that equilibrium climate sensitivity increases under high aerosol concentration due to an increase in the shortwave cloud feedback. The shortwave cloud feedback is enhanced under high aerosol conditions due to a stronger increase in the precipitation efficiency with warming, which can be explained by higher sensitivity of the droplet size and the cloud water content to the CO2 concentration rise. These results indicate a strong connection between cloud feedback and aerosol-cloud interactions.

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

16 Dec 2022
Equilibrium climate sensitivity increases with aerosol concentration due to changes in precipitation efficiency
Guy Dagan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15767–15775, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15767-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15767-2022, 2022
Short summary

Guy Dagan

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-777', Anonymous Referee #1, 21 Oct 2022
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-777', Anonymous Referee #2, 07 Nov 2022
  • AC1: 'Reply to the RCs on egusphere-2022-777', Guy Dagan, 13 Nov 2022

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-777', Anonymous Referee #1, 21 Oct 2022
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-777', Anonymous Referee #2, 07 Nov 2022
  • AC1: 'Reply to the RCs on egusphere-2022-777', Guy Dagan, 13 Nov 2022

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
AR by Guy Dagan on behalf of the Authors (13 Nov 2022)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (25 Nov 2022) by Anne Perring
RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (26 Nov 2022)
RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (29 Nov 2022)
ED: Publish as is (03 Dec 2022) by Anne Perring
AR by Guy Dagan on behalf of the Authors (03 Dec 2022)

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

16 Dec 2022
Equilibrium climate sensitivity increases with aerosol concentration due to changes in precipitation efficiency
Guy Dagan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15767–15775, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15767-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15767-2022, 2022
Short summary

Guy Dagan

Guy Dagan

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Short summary
Using idealized simulations we demonstrate that the ECS, i.e., the increase in surface temperature under equilibrium conditions due to doubling of the CO2 concentration, increases with the aerosol concentration. The ECS increase is explained by a faster increase in precipitation efficiency with warming under high aerosol concentrations, which more efficiently depletes the water from the cloud and thus is manifested as an increase in the cloud feedback parameter.