Workshops

The Aerosol-Monsoon Climate System of Asia

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Workshops

William Lau

2012-09-20
09:30:00 - 10:20:00

101 , Mathematics Research Center Building (ori. New Math. Bldg.)

In Asian monsoon countries such as China and India, human health and safety problems caused by air-pollution are worsening due to the increased loading of atmospheric pollutants stemming from rising energy demand associated with the rapid pace of industrialization and modernization. Many studies have demonstrated that aerosols can strongly interact with the monsoon water cycle. Because of complexity of the dynamics of the monsoon systems, aerosol monsoon interactions must be studied and understood in relation to changes in fundamental driving forces of the monsoon climate system (e.g. sea surface temperature, land-sea contrast etc.) on time scales from synoptic to intraseasonal variability (~days-weeks) to climate change (~ multi-decades). Indeed, because of the key contributions of aerosols to the global and regional energy balance of the atmosphere and earth surface, and possible effects of the microphysics of clouds and precipitation, a better understanding of the response to climate change in Asian monsoon regions requires that aerosols be considered as an integral component of a fully coupled aerosol-monsoon system on all time scales.

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