Direct and indirect radiative effects from regional aerosol shifts (Invited)

In the past decade aerosol has decreased in some regions such as North America, and increased in Asia and other regions. Overall, particulate pollution has moved toward the Equator where there is more total sunlight. Different regions have different cloudiness and surface albedos so there is not necessarily a cancellation between the radiative forcing even if the global average optical depth remains the same. Calculations using MISR data and a radiative transfer model show that there has been little net direct forcing from regional shifts. The impact on aerosol indirect forcing can also be constrained using the susceptibility of clouds in different regions. I will compare how regional aerosol patterns map onto locations that are more or less susceptible to indirect radiative forcing.