Aerosols and Climate: a Perspective over East Asia

Aerosol is becoming a central theme in the climate research arena, due to many new findings concerning their significant direct and indirect effects on climate (e.g. by altering temperature, cloud, radiation and precipitation) and to the large uncertainties in our estimates of aerosol forcing on climate. Despite the large loading and complex properties of East Asian aerosols, our knowledge of these aerosols and their climatic effects is so meager that they arguably present the last frontier in aerosol and climate research. While their climate effects are notably strong, the magnitude and mechanisms of their influence are far from being clear. Findings concerning how aerosols interact with energy and water cycles in other regions of cleaner environment may not be valid here. More attention needs to be focused on Asian aerosols in order to examine the existing aerosol-climate paradigms and to explore new ones. This paper provides an overview of Chinese aerosols in terms of their physical, chemical and optical properties and their potential impact on regional climate. Both anthropogenic and natural aerosols are addressed. General discussions concerning aerosol observation methods, research tools and approaches are also given. Findings by Chinese scientists are also reviewed to provide the state-of-the-art of Chinese aerosol research.