Distinct effects of anthropogenic aerosols on the East Asian summer monsoon between multidecadal strong and weak monsoon stages

Because industrial emissions of anthropogenic aerosols over East Asia have greatly increased in recent decades, the interactions between atmospheric aerosols and the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) have attracted enormous attention. To further understand the aerosol-EASM interaction, we investigate the impacts of anthropogenic aerosols on the EASM during the multidecadal strong (1950–1977) and weak (1978–2000) EASM stages using the Community Atmospheric Model 5.1. Numerical experiments are conducted for the whole period, including the two different EASM stages, with present day (PD, year 2000) and preindustrial (PI, year 1850) aerosol emissions, as well as the observed time-varying aerosol emissions. A comparison of the results from PD and PI shows that, with the increase in anthropogenic aerosols, the large-scale EASM intensity is weakened to a greater degree (−9.8%) during the weak EASM stage compared with the strong EASM stage (−4.4%). The increased anthropogenic aerosols also result in a significant reduction in precipitation over North China during the weak EASM stage, as opposed to a statistically insignificant change during the strong EASM stage. Because of greater aerosol loading and the larger sensitivity of the climate system during weak EASM stages, the aerosol effects are more significant during these EASM stages. These results suggest that anthropogenic aerosols from the same aerosol emissions have distinct effects on the EASM and the associated precipitation between the multidecadal weak and strong EASM stages.