Atmospheric chemistry articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The biofuel ethanol has been introduced into urban transportation in many countries. Here, by measuring aerosols in São Paulo, the authors find that high ethanol prices coincided with an increase in harmful nanoparticles by a third, as drivers switched from ethanol to cheaper gasoline, showing a benefit of ethanol.

    • Alberto Salvo
    • , Joel Brito
    •  & Franz M. Geiger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sea spray, one of the largest natural aerosol sources, plays an important role in the Earth’s radiative budget. Here the authors show that the ability of sea salt particles to take up water is smaller than for pure salt, with implications for the parameterization of the direct aerosol radiative effect.

    • P. Zieger
    • , O. Väisänen
    •  & M. E. Salter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chlorine-containing species deplete stratospheric ozone and while chlorofluorocarbons have been drastically reduced, dichloromethane concentrations have recently increased rapidly. Hossainiet al. show that continued growth at this rate could result in important delays to Antarctic ozone recovery.

    • Ryan Hossaini
    • , Martyn P. Chipperfield
    •  & John A. Pyle

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanoscopic water droplets in a hydrophobic liquid are abundant in the earth, our bodies and the sky. Here, it is shown that the surface of such a droplet has stronger hydrogen bonds than a planar interface of water and a hydrophobic liquid, equivalent to a 50 K reduction of the surface temperature.

    • Nikolay Smolentsev
    • , Wilbert J. Smit
    •  & Sylvie Roke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Isoprene emissions are commonly estimated using satellite measurements and model simulations. Here, using eddy covariance, the authors report higher emission rates over the Amazon forest than those estimated with these techniques and a relationship between terrain elevation and isoprene emissions.

    • Dasa Gu
    • , Alex B. Guenther
    •  & Zhiyuan Hu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The composition of the early Earth’s atmosphere remains unclear. Here, the authors using fluid inclusions trapped within quartz crystals show that at 3.3 Ga the atmosphere had a lower129Xe excess than today, and suggest that comets may have brought xenon to the Earth’s atmosphere during terrestrial accretion.

    • Guillaume Avice
    • , Bernard Marty
    •  & Ray Burgess

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fully quantifying the influence of vegetation on atmospheric chemistry remains challenging. Here, the authors show that forest canopy shading and turbulence significantly modify air pollution throughout the atmospheric boundary layer, and must be taken into account in models of the atmosphere.

    • P. A. Makar
    • , R. M. Staebler
    •  & Q. Zheng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding ice nucleation is important for the development of accurate cloud models. Here Biet al. show that sharp wedges can enhance ice nucleation both when the wedge geometry matches the ice lattice and when such matching is absent, in which case nucleation is promoted by topological defects.

    • Yuanfei Bi
    • , Boxiao Cao
    •  & Tianshu Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Iron oxide nanoparticles contribute to shortwave absorption in the form of desert dust. Motekiet al. show that iron oxide particles of anthropogenic origin, potentially from motor vehicles and blast furnaces, also contribute to atmospheric heating over East Asia.

    • Nobuhiro Moteki
    • , Kouji Adachi
    •  & Yutaka Kondo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Anthropogenic aerosol and calm conditions give rise to winter haze episodes in eastern China. Yanget al. show that these weak winds also decrease natural dust emissions, reducing the land–ocean temperature difference and associated winds, enhancing air stagnation and pollution in this region.

    • Yang Yang
    • , Lynn M. Russell
    •  & Steven J. Ghan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Secondary organic aerosols (SOA) are important for climate and aerosol quality, but the phase state is unclear. Here, the authors show that SOA is liquid in tropical and polar air, semi-solid in the mid-latitudes, solid over dry lands and in a glassy solid phase state in the middle and upper troposphere.

    • Manabu Shiraiwa
    • , Ying Li
    •  & Ulrich Pöschl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Volatile organic compounds (VOC) emitted by vegetation influence cloud formation, yet the impact of environmental stresses remains little known. Here, manipulation experiments reveal insect infestation and heat stress are linked to induced VOC and constitutive VOC emissions shifts, respectively.

    • D. F. Zhao
    • , A. Buchholz
    •  & Th. F. Mentel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Secondary organic aerosols are important contributors to the Earth’s radiation budget, however questions remain about their formation from highly-oxidized precursors. Here the authors show that the daytime reaction of hydroxyl radicals with α- and β-pinene is a greater source of highly-oxidized products than previously assumed.

    • Torsten Berndt
    • , Stefanie Richters
    •  & Mikael Ehn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The climatic impact of ammonia emissions from Arctic seabird-colony guano is poorly understood. Here, using observations and a chemical transport model, Croftet al. illustrate that guano-associated particles promote cloud-droplet formation, resulting in a pan-Arctic cooling tendency of approximately −0.5 W m−2.

    • B. Croft
    • , G. R. Wentworth
    •  & J. R. Pierce

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The high observed abundance of atmospheric methanol over remote oceans is still not well-explained. Here the authors use quantum calculations and atmospheric modelling to show the reaction of methyl peroxy and hydroxyl radicals is a major methanol source (115 Tg/yr), comparable to global terrestrial emissions.

    • Jean-François Müller
    • , Zhen Liu
    •  & Jozef Peeters

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Black carbon (BC) contributes positively to the radiation budget, yet models are unable to correctly capture its seasonal variability in the Arctic. Here, the authors demonstrate improved model skill in simulating BC concentration and sources when including estimates of BC emissions from fires.

    • P Winiger
    • , A Andersson
    •  & Ö. Gustafsson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Black carbon accelerates melting of glaciers in the Himalayas and Tibet, yet the source of these aerosols remains enigmatic. Here, the authors use isotope fingerprinting techniques to determine the origin of black carbon preserved in glacier ice cores recovered from the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau.

    • Chaoliu Li
    • , Carme Bosch
    •  & Örjan Gustafsson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The growth rates of freshly formed aerosol particles influence what fraction of these can reach sizes large enough to affect cloud formation and climate. Here, the authors show that the nano-particle growth in a sulphuric acid containing system can be enhanced by the presence of ions or small acid-base clusters.

    • Katrianne Lehtipalo
    • , Linda Rondo
    •  & Markku Kulmala

  • Article
    | Open Access

    On glacial/interglacial timescales CO2 might have been sequestered from the atmosphere and stored within the deep ocean. Here, the authors show that an old and CO2-rich water mass occupied the glacial South Pacific between ∼2,000 and 4,300 m water depth and was influenced by volcanic CO2from mid-ocean ridges.

    • T. A. Ronge
    • , R. Tiedemann
    •  & L. Wacker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Vegetation fires contribute to global carbon emissions, but uncertainty exists due to inconsistencies in the treatment of post-burn combustion. Here, it is shown that the ‘consumed biomass’ approach overestimates emissions by 4%, which can be corrected using an alternative ‘burnt carbon’ method.

    • N. C. Surawski
    • , A. L. Sullivan
    •  & P. J. Polglase

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite the importance of Arctic sea-ice in the global climate system, a paucity of pre-Quaternary sedimentary archives limits our understanding of its long-term history. Here, based on ancient sediments revealed by submarine landslides, the authors reconstruct Arctic sea-ice conditions during the Miocene.

    • Ruediger Stein
    • , Kirsten Fahl
    •  & Gerrit Lohmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Aerosol droplets have significant effects on atmospheric photochemistry, however measuring absorption from single droplets is a challenge. Here, the authors report a method to measure absorption of nanodroplets with attolitre sensitivity, showing rate enhancements for light focusing in photolysis reactions.

    • Johannes W. Cremer
    • , Klemens M. Thaler
    •  & Ruth Signorell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Distinguishing between authigenic carbonate and primary marine carbonate is fundamental to our understanding of Earth’s carbon, oxygen and calcium cycles. Here, the authors show that a combination of uranium concentration and carbon isotope composition is able to distinguish between the two carbonate sinks.

    • Ming-Yu Zhao
    • , Yong-Fei Zheng
    •  & Yan-Yan Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Land biosphere uptake of carbon is important in mitigating the anthropogenic increase in atmospheric CO2and its climate forcing. Here, the authors show that land biosphere uptake of carbon in Asia has increased substantially since the mid 1990s, likely owing to reforestation and regional climate change.

    • R. L. Thompson
    • , P. K. Patra
    •  & P. Ciais

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The long-range atmospheric transport and deposition of reactive nitrogen may be affected by human activities. Here, the authors use isotope data to constrain sources of reactive nitrogen to high elevation lakes in the Uinta Mountains, finding that the majority originates from distant agricultural activities.

    • E. J. Hundey
    • , S. D. Russell
    •  & K. A. Moser

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The extent to which the location of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)—a primary influence over tropical hydrology—varied in the past remains uncertain. Here, the authors use a transect of marine sediment cores to quantify latitudinal migrations of the ITCZ during the penultimate deglaciation.

    • A. W. Jacobel
    • , J. F. McManus
    •  & G. Winckler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High ozone and low water structures in the tropical western Pacific are commonly attributed to transport from the stratosphere or mid-latitudes. Here, Anderson et al. show these structures actually result from ozone production in biomass burning plumes and large-scale descent of air within the tropics.

    • Daniel C. Anderson
    • , Julie M. Nicely
    •  & Andrew J. Weinheimer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Aerosols play an important role in Earth’s radiative balance, but their influence on the climate of giant planets is unclear. Here, the authors show that gases alone cannot maintain the energy balance in the middle atmosphere of Jupiter, instead proposing that an aerosol layer dominates radiative heating.

    • Xi Zhang
    • , Robert A. West
    •  & Yuk L. Yung

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mars likely evolved from a warmer, wetter early state to the cold, arid current climate, but this evolution is not reflected in recent observations and measurements. Here, the authors derive quantitative constraints on the atmospheric pressure through time, identifying a mechanism that explains the carbon data.

    • Renyu Hu
    • , David M. Kass
    •  & Yuk L. Yung

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While variations in solar irradiance are thought to influence North Atlantic climate variability, the direction of the forcing remains unclear. Here the authors present results from a fully coupled ocean-atmosphere model with interactive chemistry that support a top-down mechanism.

    • Rémi Thiéblemont
    • , Katja Matthes
    •  & Felicitas Hansen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ozone-depleting substances have been controlled by the 1987 Montreal Protocol, ensuring atmospheric concentrations are now in decline. Here, the authors use a 3D model and suggest that these controls have already had significant benefits, with much larger ozone depletion than previously thought avoided by the protocol.

    • M. P. Chipperfield
    • , S. S. Dhomse
    •  & J. A. Pyle

  • Article |

    Despite methane’s (CH4) importance as a greenhouse gas, much remains unknown regarding CH4 sources and sinks. Here, the authors conduct geochemical monitoring and analyses of several cave systems in Spain and show that subterranean atmospheres may be acting as daily sinks for atmospheric CH4.

    • Angel Fernandez-Cortes
    • , Soledad Cuezva
    •  & Sergio Sanchez-Moral

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although it is known that soot particles are emitted in large quantities to the atmosphere, our understanding of their environmental effects is limited. Here, the authors study hydrocarbon soot particles during oxidation by ozone, suggesting that this process leads to increases in redox activity.

    • María Antiñolo
    • , Megan D. Willis
    •  & Jonathan P.D. Abbatt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although phase transitions are fundamental for understanding aerosol particles, current models are insufficient to explain observations at the nanoscale. Here, the authors present a method for investigating droplets, suggesting particle size is a key determinant in the phase diagram of nanoparticles.

    • Yafang Cheng
    • , Hang Su
    •  & Ulrich Pöschl

  • Article |

    Roaming dynamics have been shown to be important in unimolecular decompositions, but the relevance to bimolecular reactions has been less clear. Here, the authors study radical addition/elimination reactions and implicate a roaming transition state in a bimolecular reaction.

    • Baptiste Joalland
    • , Yuanyuan Shi
    •  & Alexander M. Mebel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Whether all rapid climate events during the last ice age impacted the global carbon cycle is not clearly understood. Ahn and Brook present a high-resolution record of atmospheric CO2 from Antarctica and suggest that only Greenland stadials associated with massive iceberg discharge influenced atmospheric CO2.

    • Jinho Ahn
    •  & Edward J. Brook

  • Article |

    Plutonium and caesium radioisotopes have been injected into the atmosphere during nuclear weapon tests and via other anthropogenic sources. Alvarado et al. show that volcanic eruptions can redistribute those isotopes in the lower atmosphere, using the Eyjafjallajökull eruption as an example.

    • J. A. Corcho Alvarado
    • , P. Steinmann
    •  & P. Froidevaux

  • Article |

    The precise contributions of solar forcing, the carbon cycle and glaciation to the pacing of global climate remains unresolved. Using four 3D ice-sheet models, de Boer et al.show that Antarctic ice volume and carbon-cycle dynamics varied coherently during the Pleistocene, as has been observed in the Miocene.

    • B. de Boer
    • , Lucas J. Lourens
    •  & Roderik S.W. van de Wal

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biomass burning is a major source of carbonaceous particles, including tar balls and soot, that affect earth’s climate. Studying a wildfire plume, this work identifies two types of tar balls and classifies soot according to its mixing state with implications for the calculation of aerosol radiative forcing.

    • Swarup China
    • , Claudio Mazzoleni
    •  & Manvendra K. Dubey

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ocean circulation moves heat and gases between the ocean and atmosphere, impacting the carbon cycle at decadal timescales. Here, a radiocarbon coral record of ocean mixing from Bermuda suggests that the formation of mode water, and thus carbon uptake, have been more stable over the past 200 years than previously thought.

    • Nathalie F. Goodkin
    • , Ellen R. M. Druffel
    •  & Scott C. Doney

  • Article |

    The night sky viewed from Earth is very bright at infrared wavelengths due to atmospheric emission, making land-based astronomy difficult in this spectral region. Here, a photonic filter is demonstrated to suppress this unwanted light, opening new paths to infrared astronomy with current and future telescopes.

    • J. Bland-Hawthorn
    • , S.C. Ellis
    •  & C. Trinh

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