Yet another unexpected reason why CDR is needed!
Stratospheric contraction caused by increasing greenhouse gases
To cite this article before publication: Petr Pisoft et al 2021 Environ. Res. Lett. in press https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfe2b
P. Pisoft1 , P. Sacha1,2, L. M. Polvani3 , J. A. Añel4 , L. de la Torre4 , R. Eichinger1,5,6, U. Foelsche7 , P. Huszar1 , C. Jacobi8 , J. Karlicky1,2, A. Kuchar1,8, J. Miksovsky1 , M. Zak1 , H. E. Rieder2
Abstract Rising emissions of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG) have led to tropospheric warming and stratospheric cooling over recent decades. As a thermodynamic consequence, the troposphere has expanded and the rise of the tropopause, the boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere, has been suggested as one of the most robust fingerprints of anthropogenic climate change. Conversely, at altitudes above ~55 km (in the mesosphere and thermosphere) observational and modeling evidence indicates a downward shift of the height of pressure levels or decreasing density at fixed altitudes. The layer in between, the stratosphere, has not been studied extensively with respect to changes of its global structure. Here we show that this atmospheric layer has contracted substantially over the last decades, and that the main driver for this are increasing concentrations of GHG. Using data from coupled chemistry-climate models we show that this trend will continue and the mean climatological thickness of the stratosphere will decrease by 1.3 km following representative concentration pathway 6.0 by 2080. We also demonstrate that the stratospheric contraction is not only a response to cooling, as changes in both tropopause and stratopause pressure contribute. Moreover, its short emergence time (less than 15 years) makes it a novel and independent indicator of GHG induced climate change.
Thomas J. F. Goreau, PhD
President, Global Coral Reef Alliance
Chief Scientist, Blue Regeneration SL
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Dear Oliver,
you may also refer to
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2017GL074647
(figures 2 & 3) though I have always felt our model overwarms
the stratosphere in response to the stratospheric aerosols
probably due to a RT model that is not sophisticated enough. The
heating is due to both absorption by the aerosols but also by
additional absorption by ozone due to the longer photon path in
the aerosol plume. I've never seen a proper quantification of both
effects.
All the best,
Olivier
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