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Cited by 254Atmospheric aerosols and cloudsAtmospheric chemistry and aerosolsClimate Change and Geoengineering

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 62 of the 66 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Weak average liquid-cloud-water response to anthropogenic aerosols

Open access
Toll, Velle, Christensen, Matthew, Quaas, Johannes, Bellouin, Nicolas·2019·Nature
DOI 10.1038/s41586-019-1423-9
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Abstract

The cooling of the Earth's climate through the effects of anthropogenic aerosols on clouds offsets an unknown fraction of greenhouse gas warming. An increase in the amount of water inside liquid-phase clouds induced by aerosols, through the suppression of rain formation, has been postulated to lead to substantial cooling, which would imply that the Earth's surface temperature is highly sensitive to anthropogenic forcing. Here we provide direct observational evidence that, instead of a strong increase, aerosols cause a relatively weak average decrease in the amount of water in liquid-phase clouds compared with unpolluted clouds. Measurements of polluted clouds downwind of various anthropogenic sources-such as oil refineries, smelters, coal-fired power plants, cities, wildfires and ships-reveal that aerosol-induced cloud-water increases, caused by suppressed rain formation, and decreases, caused by enhanced evaporation of cloud water, partially cancel each other out. We estimate that the observed decrease in cloud water offsets 23% of the global climate-cooling effect caused by aerosol-induced increases in the concentration of cloud droplets. These findings invalidate the hypothesis that increases in cloud water cause a substantial climate cooling effect and translate into reduced uncertainty in projections of future climate.

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Hobbs, P. et al. Emissions from ships with respect to their effects on clouds. J. Atmos. Sci. 57, 2570–2590 (2000). · DOI
  2. Brenguier, J. et al. Radiative properties of boundary-layer clouds: droplet effective radius versus number concentration. J. Atmos. Sci. 57, 803–821 (2000). · DOI
  3. Ackerman, A. et al. Effects of aerosols on cloud albedo: evaluation of Twomey’s parameterization of cloud susceptibility using measurements of ship tracks. J. Atmos. Sci. 57, 2684–2695 (2000). · DOI

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Metadata

Authors
Toll, V., Christensen, M., Quaas, J., & Bellouin, N.
Affiliations
  • University of Tartu (EE)
  • University of Oxford (GB)
  • Leipzig University (DE)
  • University of Reading (GB)
Corresponding author
Toll, Velle
ORCID
Venue
Nature
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2019-07-31
Volume
572
Issue
7767
Pages
51-55
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/s41586-019-1423-9
OpenAlex
W2965102826
Cited by
254
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 40 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 42 · 2021: 41 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 6
FWCI
15.44
Type
journal article
Language
en
Update notices
correction (2020-01-03)
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • CentAUR (University of Reading) (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • University of Reading
  • Eesti Teadusagentuur (PSG202)
  • Natural Environment Research Council (NE/L013746/1, NE/L013479/1)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Atmospheric aerosols and clouds
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate Change and Geoengineering
Keywords
anthropogenic aerosols, cloud water content, aerosol-cloud interactions, cloud droplet number concentration, cloud evaporation, climate cooling effect, global warming, climate sensitivity
MeSH terms
Aerosols, Air Pollution, Human Activities, Models, Theoretical, Rain, Temperature, Water, Greenhouse Effect, Uncertainty, Climate Change

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