| Title: |
Surface warming and wetting due to methane’s long-wave radiative effects muted by short-wave absorption |
| Authors: |
Allen, RJ; Zhao, X; Randles, CA; Kramer, RJ; Samset, BH; Smith, CJ |
| Publisher Information: |
Nature Research |
| Publication Year: |
2023 |
| Collection: |
White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) |
| Description: |
Although greenhouse gases absorb primarily long-wave radiation, they also absorb short-wave radiation. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of methane short-wave absorption, which enhances its stratospherically adjusted radiative forcing by up to ~ 15%. The corresponding climate impacts, however, have been only indirectly evaluated and thus remain largely unquantified. Here we present a systematic, unambiguous analysis using one model and separate simulations with and without methane short-wave absorption. We find that methane short-wave absorption counteracts ~30% of the surface warming associated with its long-wave radiative effects. An even larger impact occurs for precipitation as methane short-wave absorption offsets ~60% of the precipitation increase relative to its long-wave radiative effects. The methane short-wave-induced cooling is due largely to cloud rapid adjustments, including increased low-level clouds, which enhance the reflection of incoming short-wave radiation, and decreased high-level clouds, which enhance outgoing long-wave radiation. The cloud responses, in turn, are related to the profile of atmospheric solar heating and corresponding changes in temperature and relative humidity. Despite our findings, methane remains a potent contributor to global warming, and efforts to reduce methane emissions are vital for keeping global warming well below 2 °C above preindustrial values. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| File Description: |
text |
| Language: |
English |
| ISSN: |
1752-0894 |
| Relation: |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/197477/1/s41561-023-01144-z.pdf; Allen, RJ, Zhao, X, Randles, CA et al. (3 more authors) (2023) Surface warming and wetting due to methane’s long-wave radiative effects muted by short-wave absorption. Nature Geoscience. ISSN: 1752-0894 |
| Availability: |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/197477/ |
| Rights: |
cc_by_4 |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.6289639C |
| Database: |
BASE |