Source apportionment of circum-Arctic atmospheric black carbon from isotopes and modeling
- Author(s)
- P. Winiger, T. E. Barrett, R. J. Sheesley, L. Huang, S. Sharma, L. A. Barrie, K. E. Yttri, N. Evangeliou, S. Eckhardt, A. Stohl, Z. Klimont, C. Heyes, I. P. Semiletov, O. V. Dudarev, A. Charkin, N. Shakhova, H. Holmstrand, A. Andersson, Gustafsson
- Abstract
Black carbon (BC) contributes to Arctic climate warming, yet source attributions are inaccurate due to lacking observational constraints and uncertainties in emission inventories. Year-round, isotope-constrained observations reveal strong seasonal variations in BC sources with a consistent and synchronous pattern at all Arctic sites. These sources were dominated by emissions from fossil fuel combustion in the winter and by biomass burning in the summer. The annual mean source of BC to the circum-Arctic was 39 ± 10% from biomass burning. Comparison of transport-model predictions with the observations showed good agreement for BC concentrations, with larger discrepancies for (fossil/biomass burning) sources. The accuracy of simulated BC concentration, but not of origin, points to misallocations of emissions in the emission inventories. The consistency in seasonal source contributions of BC throughout the Arctic provides strong justification for targeted emission reductions to limit the impact of BC on climate warming in the Arctic and beyond.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Roman Law and Antique Legal History, Department of Chromosome Biology, Department of Meteorology and Geophysics
- External organisation(s)
- Stockholm University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Baylor University, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Norwegian Institute for Air Research, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Russian Academy of Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Tomsk Polytechnic University
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Volume
- 5
- ISSN
- 2375-2548
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau8052
- Publication date
- 02-2019
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 105206 Meteorology
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 13 - Climate Action
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/6ac385bd-72ee-460c-8ccd-2f35461f741d