Local biophysical climate feedback from vegetation responses to lower aerosol pollution

Aerosols can influence vegetation through multiple processes, yet the resulting biophysical climate feedback from the vegetation response remains poorly understood. Here, using an ensemble of Earth system models and an observation-based empirical model, we show that the vegetation response to complete removal of anthropogenic aerosols can either cool or warm the local climate by up to 0.039 ± 0.020 °C (multimodel mean ± intermodel standard deviation) through altering albedo and evapotranspiration. This feedback exhibits distinct latitudinal asymmetry, resulting, on average, in cooling (–0.0083 ± 0.0070 °C) in boreal regions, moderate cooling (–0.0036 ± 0.0017 °C) in temperate zones, and slight warming (0.0007 ± 0.0011 °C) in the tropics (excluding the Amazon). Future projections suggest that stringent aerosol control could amplify the local cooling effect of vegetation across most vegetated areas. These findings reveal a previously overlooked pathway by which aerosols influence vegetation climate effects, highlighting the need for integrated policies on air quality control and vegetation-based climate solutions.