Atmospheric science articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The relative importance of crustal vs. anthropogenic dust deposition for iron cycling in the surface ocean is unclear. Based on analysis of iron isotope data from North Atlantic aerosol samples, the authors can reveal the relative importance of anthropogenic iron emissions and its impact on marine biogeochemistry.

    • Tim M. Conway
    • , Douglas S. Hamilton
    •  & Seth G. John

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Parametrizations of unresolved small-scale atmospheric waves are an important source of uncertainty in climate models. Scale invariance is used to estimate the forcing of these small-scale waves and it is shown to have a leading order effect on the mean flow.

    • Han-Li Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Large uncertainty exists in projecting future 20-year global warming trends due to intrinsic tropical Pacific climate variability. Here the authors show that knowledge of the state of the Pacific Ocean can significantly reduce this uncertainty via the use of initialized decadal climate forecasts.

    • Mohammad Hadi Bordbar
    • , Matthew H. England
    •  & Mojib Latif

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A better understanding of typhoon–ocean interactions is critical for improving typhoon forecasts. Here the authors use data from two buoys that captured Super Typhoon Nepartak and combine it with numerical simulations to reveal the role of enhanced velocity shear in rapid upper-ocean cooling.

    • Yiing Jang Yang
    • , Ming-Huei Chang
    •  & Ching-Ling Wei

  • Article
    | Open Access

    State‐of‐the‐art aerosol nanoparticle techniques are limited by the shortcomings of removing the nanoparticles from their original environment. Here, the authors apply small angle X‐ray scattering as an in‐situ measurement technique, enabling the measurement of the primary particles and the aggregates.

    • P. S. Bauer
    • , H. Amenitsch
    •  & P. M. Winkler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It remains unclear how urban emissions influence the formation of secondary organic aerosols (SOA), including in the Amazon forest. Here, the authors simulate the formation of SOAs in the Amazon using a high-resolution regional chemical transport model. They find that urban emissions of NOx from Manaus enhance the production of biogenic SOA by 60–200%.

    • Manish Shrivastava
    • , Meinrat O. Andreae
    •  & Chun Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chinese government has implemented regulations to reduce mining-related methane emission since 2010. Here the authors estimated methane emissions in China using GOSAT satellite observation and results reveal a business-as-usual increase in methane emissions since 2010 despite those ambitious targets.

    • Scot M. Miller
    • , Anna M. Michalak
    •  & Stefan Schwietzke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic nucleation is an important source of atmospheric aerosol number concentration, especially in pristine continental regions and during the preindustrial period. Here the authors find a 16% reduced radiative forcing associated with anthropogenic aerosols when including organic nucleation together with climate and land use change.

    • Jialei Zhu
    • , Joyce E. Penner
    •  & Hugh Coe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ocean warming contributes to the thinning of the Antarctic ice shelves, however, lack of observations has prevented a quantification of this contribution. Here the authors use geological records to show that 0.3–1.5 °C ocean warming has played a central role on regional ice shelf instability over the last 9000 years.

    • Johan Etourneau
    • , Giovanni Sgubin
    •  & Jung-Hyun Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The extreme coastal El Niño of March 2017 caused devastating flooding in coastal Peru but its mechanism remains unclear. Here the authors investigate the physical processes using observations and model simulations and suggest that such extreme coastal flooding is predictable and will become more frequent as climate warms.

    • Qihua Peng
    • , Shang-Ping Xie
    •  & Hong Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Antarctic sea ice extent declined dramatically in austral spring 2016. This study shows the decline was initially driven by tropical convection resulting in a wave-3 circulation pattern, followed by weakened circumpolar surface westerlies initialised in the polar stratospheric vortex.

    • Guomin Wang
    • , Harry H. Hendon
    •  & Peter van Rensch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reduction of gaseous Hg(II) compounds drives atmospheric mercury wet and dry deposition to Earth surface ecosystems. Global Hg models assume this reduction takes place in clouds. Here the authors report a new gas-phase Hg photochemical mechanism that changes atmospheric mercury lifetime and its deposition to the surface.

    • Alfonso Saiz-Lopez
    • , Sebastian P. Sitkiewicz
    •  & Jeroen E. Sonke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Aerosol effects on convection have been debated for decades when all types of aerosols are lumped together in the analyses. Using NASA satellite measurements, the authors find strong evidence that smoke inhibits convection but polluted continental aerosols invigorate convection.

    • Jonathan H. Jiang
    • , Hui Su
    •  & Zhien Wang

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    Research and debate are intensifying on complementing CO2 emissions reductions with hypothetical climate geoengineering techniques. Here, the authors assess their potentials, uncertainties and risks, and show that they cannot yet be relied on to significantly contribute to meeting the Paris Agreement temperature goals.

    • Mark G. Lawrence
    • , Stefan Schäfer
    •  & Jürgen Scheffran

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Southern Ocean is critically important for global climate yet poorly represented by climate models. Here the authors trace sea surface temperature biases in this region to cloud-related errors in atmospheric-model simulated surface heat fluxes and provide a pathway to improve the models.

    • Patrick Hyder
    • , John M. Edwards
    •  & Stephen E. Belcher

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite their extensive use, the absolute dating of tree-ring chronologies has not hitherto been independently validated at the global scale. Here, the identification of distinct 14C excursions in 484 individual tree rings, enable the authors to confirm the dating of 44 dendrochronologies from five continents.

    • Ulf Büntgen
    • , Lukas Wacker
    •  & Giles H. F. Young

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Permafrost thaw allows biological activity in previously frozen ground, leading to a potential release of climate-relevant gases. Here the authors show that thawing permafrost emits volatile organic compounds but that their release to the atmosphere is limited by microbial consumption in the overlaying soil.

    • Magnus Kramshøj
    • , Christian N. Albers
    •  & Riikka Rinnan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Anthropogenic aerosol and greenhouse gas concentrations are spatially uncorrelated, but the climate response to each shows a similar spatial pattern. Here the authors show that two-thirds of the spatial similarity in the full response manifests through fast-acting atmosphere and land surface processes alone.

    • Geeta G. Persad
    • , Yi Ming
    •  & V. Ramaswamy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Several lines of evidence suggest that fire activity was much greater in the preindustrial era than currently assumed in climate models. Here the authors show that greater emission of aerosols from fires leads to a substantial reduction in the magnitude of aerosol radiative forcing over the Industrial Era.

    • D. S. Hamilton
    • , S. Hantson
    •  & K. S. Carslaw

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The relative impacts of changes in North Pacific and North Atlantic sea surface temperature on Arctic climate are not well defined. Here the authors find that Arctic surface temperatures are more sensitive to changes in North Pacific heat flux as a result of stronger modulations in poleward moisture and latent heat transport.

    • Summer Praetorius
    • , Maria Rugenstein
    •  & Ken Caldeira

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cloud susceptibility to aerosols in models frequently exceeds satellite estimates. Here the authors show that the discrepancy can be explained by retrieval limitations especially in clean environments, suggesting that conventional comparison strategies may lead to misunderstanding.

    • Po-Lun Ma
    • , Philip J. Rasch
    •  & Steven J. Ghan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite advances in ENSO modeling, super El Niño events remain largely unpredictable. Hameed et al. postulate that ENSO-IOD interaction is crucial for super El Niño development and identify a self-limiting factor that constrains ENSO dynamics from generating these extreme events on their own.

    • Saji N. Hameed
    • , Dachao Jin
    •  & Vishnu Thilakan

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    Estimating the magnitude of radiative and non-radiative feedbacks is key for understanding the climate dynamics of polar regions. Here the authors propose an inclusive methodology to quantify the influence of all those feedbacks, stimulating more systematic analyses in observational and model ensembles.

    • Hugues Goosse
    • , Jennifer E. Kay
    •  & Martin Vancoppenolle

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During 2002–2014, global mean temperatures stayed nearly steady, but both summertime warm and wintertime cold extreme temperature occurrences over North Hemisphere continents increased. Here the authors show that the contrasting changes in these metrics were driven by distinct climate patterns.

    • Nathaniel C. Johnson
    • , Shang-Ping Xie
    •  & Xichen Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    As a source of soluble iron, anthropogenic combustion iron is considered less important than natural sources. Here, the authors combine new measurements with a global aerosol model and show the atmospheric burden of anthropogenic combustion iron to be 8 times greater than previous estimates.

    • Hitoshi Matsui
    • , Natalie M. Mahowald
    •  & Mark G. Flanner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite its chemical importance, the evolution of atmospheric iodine concentrations over time is unknown. Here, the authors show that North Atlantic atmospheric iodine levels have tripled since 1950, and propose ozone pollution and enhanced biological production Arctic sea ice thinning as a primary driver.

    • Carlos A. Cuevas
    • , Niccolò Maffezzoli
    •  & Alfonso Saiz-Lopez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Periodic changes in the tilt of the Earth’s axis alter the distribution of incoming solar radiation. Here, the authors show that the temperature response to this forcing seemingly differs in models and Antarctic ice cores, with a better agreement reached if ice cores are recording a seasonally weighted signal.

    • Michael P. Erb
    • , Charles S. Jackson
    •  & Pedro N. DiNezio

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Warm Atlantic water circulates cyclonically around the Nordic Seas while gradually cooling. Here, the authors show that the retreat of the ice edge toward Greenland has led to further transformation of this water mass, which is no longer situated underneath sea ice when transiting the western Iceland Sea in winter.

    • Kjetil Våge
    • , Lukas Papritz
    •  & G. W. K. Moore

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Whether accelerated Arctic warming is favorable for more frequent severe winter weather remains controversial. Here the authors present an observational analysis that links Arctic warming to severe winter weather, showing that extreme weather is 2–4 times more likely in the eastern US when the Arctic is warm.

    • Judah Cohen
    • , Karl Pfeiffer
    •  & Jennifer A. Francis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Aerosol pollution from shipping contributes to cooling but also leads to premature mortality and morbidity. Here the authors combine emission inventories, atmospheric models and health risk functions to show how cleaner marine fuels will reduce premature deaths and childhood asthma but results in larger warming.

    • Mikhail Sofiev
    • , James J. Winebrake
    •  & James J. Corbett

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Modulation of ambient PM2.5 exposure and premature mortality burden in India under climate change scenarios is unclear. Here the authors show that the premature mortality burden is projected to decrease in 2100 relative to present day under all possible combined climate change and socioeconomic pathways scenarios.

    • Sourangsu Chowdhury
    • , Sagnik Dey
    •  & Kirk R. Smith

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Feedbacks between desert dust and climate might have amplified past climate changes, yet their role in future climate change is unclear. Here the authors find that dust feedbacks could play a key role in the future climates of Northern Africa, the Sahel, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

    • Jasper F. Kok
    • , Daniel S. Ward
    •  & Amato T. Evan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The climate impacts of deforestation due to changes in biogenic volatile organic compound emissions, which act as short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs), are poorly understood. Here the authors show that including the impact SLCFs increases the projected warming associated with idealised deforestation scenarios.

    • C. E. Scott
    • , S. A. Monks
    •  & C. Wilson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The timing of clouds is critical to the Earth’s energy balance. Here the authors show that in current climate models, clouds over the land tend to peak too early in the morning, reflecting less solar radiation than observed.

    • Jun Yin
    •  & Amilcare Porporato

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