Identification

Title

Exploring the geoengineering of climate using stratospheric sulfate aerosols: The role of particle size

Abstract

Aerosols produced in the lower stratosphere can brighten the planet and counteract some of the effects of global warming. We explore scenarios in which the amount of precursors and the size of the aerosol are varied to assess their interactions with the climate system. Stratosphere-troposphere exchange processes change in response to greenhouse gas forcing and respond to geoengineering by aerosols. Nonlinear feedbacks influence the amount of aerosol required to counteract the warming. More aerosol precursor must be injected than would be needed if stratosphere troposphere exchange processes did not change in response to greenhouse gases or aerosols. Aerosol particle size has an important role in modulating the energy budget. A prediction of aerosol size requires a much more complex representation and assumptions about the delivery mechanism beyond the scope of this study, so we explore the response when particle size is prescribed. More aerosol is required to counteract greenhouse warming if aerosol particles are as large as those seen during volcanic eruptions (compared to the smaller aerosols found in quiescent conditions) because the larger particles are less effective at scattering incoming energy, and trap some outgoing energy. About 1.5 Tg S/yr are found to balance a doubling of CO₂ if the particles are small, while perhaps double that may be needed if the particles reach the size seen following eruptions.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d76110g0

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2008-01-26T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact