Global clear-sky aerosol speciated direct radiative effects over 40 years (1980–2019)

Abstract

We assess the 40-year climatological clear-sky global direct radiative effect (DRE) of five main aerosol types using the MERRA-2 reanalysis and a spectral radiative transfer model (FORTH). The study takes advantage of aerosol-speciated, spectrally and vertically resolved optical properties over the period 1980–2019, to accurately determine the aerosol DREs, emphasizing the attribution of the total DREs to each aerosol type. The results show that aerosols radiatively cool the Earth’s surface and heat its atmosphere by 7.56 and 2.35 Wm−2, respectively, overall cooling the planet by 5.21 Wm−2, partly counterbalancing the anthropogenic greenhouse global warming during 1980–2019. These DRE values differ significantly in terms of magnitude, and even sign, among the aerosol types (sulfate and black carbon aerosols cool and heat the planet by 1.88 and 0.19 Wm−2, respectively), the hemispheres (larger NH than SH values), the surface cover type (larger land than ocean values) or the seasons (larger values in local spring and summer), while considerable inter-decadal changes are evident. These DRE differences are even larger by up to an order of magnitude on a regional scale, highlighting the important role of the aerosol direct radiative effect for local and global climate.