Reexamining the Mechanisms of East Asian Summer Monsoon Changes in Response to Non–East Asian Anthropogenic Aerosol Forcing

This study examines the mechanisms by which the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) changes in response to non–East Asian (NEA) anthropogenic aerosol forcing by distinguishing the fast direct atmospheric response and slow ocean-mediated response to forcing using a global aerosol–climate coupled model. The results show that NEA aerosol forcing significantly exacerbates the weakening of the EASM due to local aerosol forcing. The fast response is dominant in the weakening of the EASM and an anomalous precipitation pattern over eastern China resembling the “southern flood and northern drought” pattern in the total response to NEA aerosol forcing. Changes in upper-tropospheric temperature caused by the fast response play a major role in the impact of NEA aerosol forcing on the EASM. Anomalous cooling occurs during summer in the upper troposphere (at ~40°N) over East Asia caused by the fast response. This is due to the combined effects of strong eastward cold advection in the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes caused by increased aerosol loading in Europe and the resulting change in local meridional heat transport in East Asia. Subsequently, the zonal wind speed changes on either side of the anomalous cooling, and the East Asian subtropical jet shifts equatorward, thereby weakening the EASM. The changes in atmospheric temperature and the local Hadley cell caused by the slow response to NEA aerosol forcing are conducive to strengthening the southwesterly winds over eastern China. Our study suggests the importance of NEA aerosol forcing in driving changes in the EASM on a fast time scale.