Intense atmospheric pollution modifies weather: a case of mixed biomass burning with fossil fuel combustion pollution in eastern China

摘要

The influence of air pollutants, especially aerosols, on regional and globalclimate has been widely investigated, but only a very limited number ofstudies report their impacts on everyday weather. In this work, we presentfor the first time direct (observational) evidence of a clear effect of how amixed atmospheric pollution changes the weather with a substantialmodification in the air temperature and rainfall. By using comprehensivemeasurements in Nanjing, China, we found that mixed agricultural burningplumes with fossil fuel combustion pollution resulted in a decrease in thesolar radiation intensity by more than 70%, a decrease in the sensibleheat by more than 85%, a temperature drop by almost 10 K, and a change inrainfall during both daytime and nighttime. Our results show clear airpollution–weather interactions, and quantify how air pollution affectsweather via air pollution–boundary layer dynamics andaerosol–radiation–cloud feedbacks. This study highlights cross-disciplinaryneeds to investigate the environmental, weather and climate impacts of themixed biomass burning and fossil fuel combustion sources in East China.