Impact of climate change on the production and transport of sea salt aerosol on European seas
The impact of climate change on sea salt aerosol production, dispersion, and fate over Europe is studied using four offline regional chemistry transport models driven by the climate scenario SRES A1B over two periods: 1990–2009 and 2040–2059. This study is focused mainly on European seas: Baltic,...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2016-10-01
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Series: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
Online Access: | https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/16/13081/2016/acp-16-13081-2016.pdf |
Summary: | The impact of climate change on sea salt aerosol production, dispersion, and
fate over Europe is studied using four offline regional chemistry transport
models driven by the climate scenario SRES A1B over two periods: 1990–2009
and 2040–2059. This study is focused mainly on European seas: Baltic, Black,
North, and Mediterranean. The differences and similarities between the
individual models' predictions of the impact on sea salt emission,
concentration, and deposition due to changes in wind gusts and seawater
temperature are analysed. The results show that the major driver for the
sea salt flux changes will be the seawater temperature, as wind speed is
projected to stay nearly the same. There are, however, substantial
differences between the model predictions and their sensitivity to changing
seawater temperature, which demonstrates substantial lack of current
understanding of the sea salt flux predictions. Although seawater salinity
changes are not evaluated in this study, sensitivity of sea salt aerosol
production to salinity is similarly analysed, showing once more the
differences between the different models. An assessment of the impact of sea
salt aerosol on the radiative balance is presented. |
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ISSN: | 1680-7316 1680-7324 |