Mitigating Aerosol Emissions Can Effectively Offset Climate Warming Impacts on Snowmelt

Northeast China is among the most polluted snow-covered regions globally due to substantial anthropogenic black carbon (BC) emissions. BC particles, upon deposition, darken the snowpack and subsequently accelerate snowmelt and disrupt spring water resource availability. While the impact of BC in snow (BCS) on snowmelt is widely recognized, its competitive effect relative to climate warming has been less studied, a critical knowledge gap given Northeast China's heavy reliance on snowmelt for agricultural and residential water use. This study, utilizing comprehensive field measurements across Northeast China, reveals alarmingly high BCS concentrations with a mean of 1100 ± 810 ng g<sup>-1</sup>, 17 times greater than the global average. These high BCS levels contribute to 72% (0.82 cm d<sup>-1</sup>) of accelerated snowmelt rates (ASR), surpassing the effects of climate warming (28%, 0.32 cm d<sup>-1</sup>). Importantly, the observation-constrained CMIP6 projections under the SSP245 scenario indicate an 82% reduction in BCS by 2080-2100. This decline could offset 40% of the projected ASR increase by future warming, slowing the total ASR of 2080-2100 to 71% above that of 2000-2020. In contrast, the offset effect (3.6%-15%) is less pronounced in other regions of the Northern Hemisphere, highlighting the unique effectiveness of clean air policy implementation across Northeast China for mitigating snowmelt acceleration.

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Publication Details

Journal
Environmental Science & Technology
Published
2025-05-06
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c00213
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.60

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article

Mitigating Aerosol Emissions Can Effectively Offset Climate Warming Impacts on Snowmelt

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2 citations
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Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
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article

Mitigating Aerosol Emissions Can Effectively Offset Climate Warming Impacts on Snowmelt

Dongyou Wu, Hong‐Bin Xie, Yuxuan Xing, Meng Chun Gao, Meng Liu, Cenlin He, Minghui Yang, Shirui Yan, Daizhou Zhang, Wei Pu, Yue Zhou, Yanbiao Liu, Yi-Hsuan Lin, Xin Wang, Yang Chen, Ying Li, Yaliang Hou, Zijie Zhang
article en
2 citations

Abstract

Northeast China is among the most polluted snow-covered regions globally due to substantial anthropogenic black carbon (BC) emissions. BC particles, upon deposition, darken the snowpack and subsequently accelerate snowmelt and disrupt spring water resource availability. While the impact of BC in snow (BCS) on snowmelt is widely recognized, its competitive effect relative to climate warming has been less studied, a critical knowledge gap given Northeast China's heavy reliance on snowmelt for agricultural and residential water use. This study, utilizing comprehensive field measurements across Northeast China, reveals alarmingly high BCS concentrations with a mean of 1100 ± 810 ng g<sup>-1</sup>, 17 times greater than the global average. These high BCS levels contribute to 72% (0.82 cm d<sup>-1</sup>) of accelerated snowmelt rates (ASR), surpassing the effects of climate warming (28%, 0.32 cm d<sup>-1</sup>). Importantly, the observation-constrained CMIP6 projections under the SSP245 scenario indicate an 82% reduction in BCS by 2080-2100. This decline could offset 40% of the projected ASR increase by future warming, slowing the total ASR of 2080-2100 to 71% above that of 2000-2020. In contrast, the offset effect (3.6%-15%) is less pronounced in other regions of the Northern Hemisphere, highlighting the unique effectiveness of clean air policy implementation across Northeast China for mitigating snowmelt acceleration.

Environmental Science & TechnologyVol. 59(19)
NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (US), Hong Kong Baptist University (HK), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Prefectural University of Kumamoto (JP), Ministry of Ecology and Environment (CN), Dalian University of Technology (CN), Research Applications (United States) (US), Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Atmospheric Physics (CZ), Environmental Earth Sciences (AU), NSF NCAR Research Applications Laboratory (US), Lanzhou University (CN)
Lanzhou University, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 12%
Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
2.60
DOISourceOpenAlex
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