Impacts of Black Carbon on Tropical Cyclones (Invited Presentation)

Using the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory High-Resolution Atmospheric Model (GFDL HIRAM), a global climate model with 50-km resolution, we simulated the effects of black carbon on tropical climate across a range of spatial distributions of black carbon and examined the model responses in mean-precipitation, tropical cyclone frequency and intensity. Consistent with existing theory, we find decreases in tropical-mean precipitation as well as increased land rainfall, as well as a decrease in tropical cyclone frequency. However, unlike the carbon dioxide response, the black carbon perturbations also showed a clear reduction in tropical cyclone intensity.