Aerosols impact Australian weather

William Atkins
Thursday, 12 February 2009 20:46

Science - Climate

Both natural and artifical aerosols are to blame.

CSIRO states, "New simulations with the CSIRO climate model also show big improvements in the simulation of El Niño and the associated natural rainfall variability over eastern Australia, when natural and human-generated aerosols are included in the model.”

And, “Natural aerosol includes Australian dust, which may be the key factor that improved our simulation. A realistic simulation of natural rainfall variability is essential if a climate model is to be used to improve our understanding of Australian rainfall changes.

What is primarily causing aerosol pollution over Australia? Is is short- or long-term? Or both?

Dr Rotstayn stated, “It is crucial to quantify the relative roles of different drivers of recent Australian rainfall changes. A rainfall decline attributed to natural variability will be a passing phenomenon, and changes forced by human-generated aerosols are likely to be more short-term than changes forced by increasing greenhouse gases.”

Rotsyayn concluded, “The implications for decision makers will be very different, depending on whether the drivers are long-term or short-term.”

For addition information on human-made aerosols in our atmosphere, read the CSIRO articles “Human-generated aerosols affect our weather" and “‘Asian haze’ impacts on Australian rainfall.”