LAUSR

AbstractEast Asia has some of the largest concentrations of absorbing aerosols globally, and these, along with the region’s scattering aerosols, have both reduced the amount of solar radiation reaching Earth’s surface regionally (solar dimming) and increased shortwave absorption within the atmosphere, particularly during the peak months of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM). This study analyzes how atmospheric absorption and surface solar dimming compete in driving the response of regional summertime climate to anthropogenic aerosols, which dominates, and why—issues of particular importance for predicting how East Asian climate will respond to projected changes in absorbing and scattering aerosol emissions in the future. These questions are probed in a state-of-the-art general circulation model using a combination of realistic and novel idealized aerosol perturbations that allow analysis of the relative influence of absorbing aerosols’ atmospheric and surface-driven impacts on regional circulation and c...