Dust radiative forcing in CMIP6 Earth System models: insights from the AerChemMIP piClim-2xdust experiment

Abstract. Mineral dust affects significantly the downwelling and upwelling shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) radiative fluxes and changes in dust can therefore alter the Earth’s energy balance. This study analyses the dust effective radiative forcing (DuERF) in nine CMIP6 Earth System Models (ESMs) using the piClim-2xdust experiment from AerChemMIP. The piClim-2xdust experiment uses a global dust emission tuning factor to double the emission flux. The DuERF is decomposed into contributions from dust-radiation (direct DuERF) and dust-cloud (cloud DuERF) interactions. The net direct DuERF ranges from −0.56 to 0.05 Wm⁻². Models with lower (higher) dust absorption and smaller (larger) fraction of coarse dust show the most negative (positive) direct DuERF. The cloud DuERF is positive in most models, ranging from −0.02 to 0.2 W m⁻², however, they differ in their LW and SW flux contribution. Specifically NorESM2-LM shows a positive LW cloud DuERF attributable to the effect of dust on cirrus clouds. The dust forcing efficiency varies tenfold among models, indicating that uncertainty in DuERF is likely underestimated in AerChemMIP. There is a consistent fast precipitation response associated with dust decreasing the atmospheric radiative cooling (ARC). Models with strongly absorbing dust show reduced precipitation, explainable by decreased clear-sky ARC (up to 3.2 mm/year). In NorESM2-LM the decrease is correlated with the cloudy sky ARC due to increase in cirrus clouds (up to 5.6 mm/year). Together, this suggests that the fast precipitation response induced by dust is significant, comparable to that of anthropogenic black carbon.