Atmospheric science articles within Nature Communications

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  • 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 |

    Tornadoes are one of nature’s most hazardous phenomena, yet prognostic tools for tornado occurrence are lacking. Here, the authors use Bayesian inference techniques to evaluate the spatiotemporal relationship between atmospheric variables and tornado activity in North America.

    • Vincent Y.S. Cheng
    • , George B. Arhonditsis
    •  & Heather Auld

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The rainfall rate of tropical cyclones is expected to increase under a warmer climate, yet likely changes in rainfall area remain unknown. Here, the authors combine satellite data and model simulations and show that rainfall area is dependent on relative sea surface temperatures.

    • Yanluan Lin
    • , Ming Zhao
    •  & Minghua Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The sign of soil moisture–precipitation feedback has been strongly debated. Here, the authors show that rain tends to fall where soils are drier than their surroundings, but on days with overall wet and heterogeneous conditions, explaining the apparent contradictions between recent studies.

    • Benoit P. Guillod
    • , Boris Orlowsky
    •  & Sonia I. Seneviratne

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conventionally, the heaviest rainfall is associated with the most intense storms, yet this relationship remains untested. Here, Hamada et al. analyse 11 years of radar observations from the topics and subtropics, and conclude that the heaviest rainfall is most commonly associated with less intense convection.

    • Atsushi Hamada
    • , Yukari N. Takayabu
    •  & Edward J. Zipser

  • 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 |

    Suspended dust and sea salt are currently considered to be two major sources of environmental aerosol particles. Here, Joung and Buie report another mechanism of aerosol generation from rainfall impact on porous soil surfaces, whereby elements can be delivered to the air.

    • Young Soo Joung
    •  & Cullen R. Buie

  • Review Article |

    Carbon mitigation is considered an important and viable pathway towards climate stabilization, but competition for land is high. Here, Canadell and Schulze consider the sustainable implementation of a number of land-based biological carbon mitigation activities and assess the carbon savings achievable by 2050.

    • Josep G. Canadell
    •  & E. Detlef Schulze

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Extreme winter flooding has caused devastation across Europe in recent years, highlighting the need for improved forecasts. Here, the authors show that the use of water vapour transport, rather than precipitation in weather prediction models, can extend the forecast horizon by as much as 3 days.

    • David A. Lavers
    • , Florian Pappenberger
    •  & Ervin Zsoter

  • Article |

    Tropical forest deforestation is a major source of CO2emissions, yet potential additional emissions through the creation of forest edge areas has been largely overlooked. Here, the authors combine remote sensing and knowledge on spatial processes to estimate carbon loss due to forest fragmentation.

    • Sandro Pütz
    • , Jürgen Groeneveld
    •  & Andreas Huth

  • Article |

    Unlike most aerosols, black carbon absorbs solar radiation, potentially warming the atmosphere, yet its total climate effect remains uncertain. Here, the authors use a chemical transport and global circulation model to investigate the impact of black carbon emissions on global, annual mean radiative forcing.

    • Øivind Hodnebrog
    • , Gunnar Myhre
    •  & Bjørn H. Samset

  • Article |

    Synoptic-scale atmospheric pressure patterns control moisture delivery and thus drought occurrence across western North America, yet long-term records are lacking. Here, the authors use a novel combination of tree-ring data and self-organizing maps to reconstruct and analyse pressure patterns since AD 1500.

    • Erika K. Wise
    •  & Matthew P. Dannenberg

  • Article |

    The mechanism behind the severely cold winters experienced by the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere in recent years is not fully understood. Here, the authors combine observational analyses and model experiments to reveal a dynamic connection between Arctic sea-ice cover and the polar stratosphere.

    • Baek-Min Kim
    • , Seok-Woo Son
    •  & Jin-Ho Yoon

  • Article |

    Selenium deficiency is a major health problem, particularly in the selenium-poor belt in China, yet its distribution in the terrestrial environment is poorly understood. Here, the authors combine geochemical and palaeoclimate data and show that selenium distribution in China may be related to East Asian monsoon rainfall.

    • Tim Blazina
    • , Youbin Sun
    •  & Lenny H.E. Winkel

  • Article |

    Models of turbulent flows are often simulated in the laboratory, in sampling areas with dimensions <1 m. Here, the authors exploit a natural snowstorm to quantify turbulent flows, exploring the complex dynamics of the atmospheric boundary layer around a 2.5-MW utility-scale wind turbine.

    • Jiarong Hong
    • , Mostafa Toloui
    •  & Fotis Sotiropoulos

  • Article |

    Primary and secondary organic aerosols emitted by road vehicles are hazardous to health and climate, with diesel trucks and cars considered the main offenders. Platt et al.show that, despite constituting a small fraction of the fleet, two-stroke scooters can dominate vehicular pollution in some cities.

    • S.M. Platt
    • , I.El. Haddad
    •  & A.S.H. Prévôt

  • Article |

    Sprites are spectacular optical emissions in the mesosphere with an enigmatic filamentary nature. Qin et al.present high-speed video and modelling data revealing sub-millisecond dynamics to reconstruct the structures on a km-scale, showing that pre-existing plasma irregularities are responsible for their initiation.

    • Jianqi Qin
    • , Victor P. Pasko
    •  & Hans C. Stenbaek-Nielsen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Prediction of the Madden–Julian Oscillation using complex cloud-resolving models has been limited by computational power. Here, Miyakawa et al.run a series of simulations using the newly developed 10 peta-flop ‘K computer’ and demonstrate a Madden–Julian Oscillation predictive window of 27 days.

    • Tomoki Miyakawa
    • , Masaki Satoh
    •  & Kunio Yoneyama

  • 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 |

    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 |

    Isoprene and monoterpenes, emitted by terrestrial plants, have an important role in both plant biology and environment, but they are poorly quantified at the ecosystem level. Peñuelas et al.show that the photochemical reflectance index can be used to indirectly estimate foliar isoprenoid emissions remotely.

    • Josep Peñuelas
    • , Giovanni Marino
    •  & Iolanda Filella

  • 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

    Near-term climate prediction is an information tool used in climate adaptation services. This study analyses the quality of the predictions, showing that near-term climate forecasts have good skill in predicting temperature at regional scales, where most of the skill is attributed to atmospheric composition changes.

    • F. J. Doblas-Reyes
    • , I. Andreu-Burillo
    •  & G. J. van Oldenborgh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The abrupt ending of the Younger Dryas cooling episode marked the onset of the present interglacial and was the most prominent climate change in the Earth’s recent history. This study shows evidence for a sequence of events with a leading role of the ocean at the transition into the present day warm Holocene epoch.

    • Christof Pearce
    • , Marit-Solveig Seidenkrantz
    •  & Søren M. Kristiansen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is thought that during the mid-Pliocene warm period the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) must have been stronger than today. Here, using proxy data compilation and simulation, Zhang et al.show that the two observations used to support stronger AMOC may not necessitate its increased strength.

    • Zhongshi Zhang
    • , Kerim H. Nisancioglu
    •  & Ulysses S. Ninnemann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The branched inflow of warm Atlantic Water to the Arctic has been known for more than a hundred years, yet what controls the relative strengths of the two pathways remains poorly understood. Here, the authors identify the role of atmospheric circulation over the northern Barents Sea in controlling inflow.

    • Vidar S. Lien
    • , Frode B. Vikebø
    •  & Øystein Skagseth

  • 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 |

    Peatlands are a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide and make up a large soil carbon reservoir. Here, studies of the interaction between drainage and fire show that long-term carbon emissions will likely exceed rates of carbon uptake, reducing the northern peatland carbon sink.

    • M.R. Turetsky
    • , W.F. Donahue
    •  & B.W. Benscoter

  • Article |

    Assessments of future water availability in South America are uncertain based on multiple coupled general circulation models. Shiogamaet al.identify global-scale metrics for measuring the reliability of water resource assessments, and indicate a higher probability of drying in the Amazon basin.

    • Hideo Shiogama
    • , Seita Emori
    •  & Toru Nozawa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The storage in soils of biochar, the product of biomass pyrolysis, has been proposed as an attractive option to mitigate climate change. Amonette and co-workers model the potential impact of biochar and find that it could eliminate more carbon from the atmosphere than using the same biomass for biofuel.

    • Dominic Woolf
    • , James E. Amonette
    •  & Stephen Joseph

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