Resolving the Aerosol-Climate-Water Puzzle
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Conference Announcement:
Manvendra Dubey and Petr Chylek are organizing the Second International Conference on Global Warming and theNext Ice Age in conjuction with a Workshop on Climate Prediction Uncertainties in Santa Fe, NM, July 17-21, 2006.
A pressing question confronting society is how particle emissions from natural and human activity affect our health, global climate, and water supplies. The current scientific assessment of this aerosol problem faces several fundamental challenges:
- Aerosol effects on climate are the most uncertain element in climate assessment.
- Aerosols have recently been implicated in monsoon failures and drought.
Quantifying the role of aerosols poses a scientific challenge because of their complex composition, short and variable lifetimes, ability to absorb and/or scatter solar and terrestrial radiation, and effect on cloud properties. Our Los Alamos LDRD project has created a confluence of observational (satellites and in situ), modeling (cloud resolving and global) and laboratory (single particle and bulk experiments) research on the microphysics, dynamics and optics of aerosol-cloud interactions (see schematic below) to quantify the climatic effects of anthropogenic aerosols.
Schematic of aerosol-related feedbacks in weather and climate. Aerosols generally conspire to stabilize the atmosphere dynamically (note arrows on the left), either directly by partially blocking solar radiation, or indirectly by increasing albedo and/or longevity of clouds. Also shown are various ancillary feedbacks, such as the effect of low-level winds (turbulence) on surface fluxes and the effect of altered radiation fluxes on the intensity of circulation features that in turn modulate the strength of low-level winds. These processes operate on a variety of spatial scales.
Principle Investigator:
- Manvendra K. Dubey
- Geochemistry Team and Climate Focus Leader
- dubey@lanl.gov, 505-665-3128
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545
Funding:
Supported by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Laboratory Directed Research Development (LDRD) Program (project number LDRD200500014DR)
