A Numerical Experiment on the Effects of Regional Atmospheric Pollution on Global Climate

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Abstract
The 1973 Rand version of the Mintz-Arakawa model of the general circulation of the atmosphere was used to study the consequences of high concentrations of hygroscopic aerosols in a limited geographic region. The experiment was designed to investigate effects of the activity of the aerosol as condensation nuclei and the consequent abnormal production of cloudiness and alteration of precipitation were of primary concern. Values of meteorological parameters generated by the experiment were compared with values simulated by a control (in which the polluted area was absent). Statistical tests of significance were performed in order to judge the certainty that experimental changes, rather than random wandering of the simulations, actually caused changes in certain variables. Cloudiness increased over the polluted area and the temperature at the surface and in the lower atmosphere became warmer. Rainfall, however, was not significantly altered in the polluted region in spite of changes in the parameteri... Abstract The 1973 Rand version of the Mintz-Arakawa model of the general circulation of the atmosphere was used to study the consequences of high concentrations of hygroscopic aerosols in a limited geographic region. The experiment was designed to investigate effects of the activity of the aerosol as condensation nuclei and the consequent abnormal production of cloudiness and alteration of precipitation were of primary concern. Values of meteorological parameters generated by the experiment were compared with values simulated by a control (in which the polluted area was absent). Statistical tests of significance were performed in order to judge the certainty that experimental changes, rather than random wandering of the simulations, actually caused changes in certain variables. Cloudiness increased over the polluted area and the temperature at the surface and in the lower atmosphere became warmer. Rainfall, however, was not significantly altered in the polluted region in spite of changes in the parameteri...

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