Mitigation of black carbon emissions could immediately reduce 6.3% of glacier melting in the Qilian Mountains

Glacier Melting Black carbon Simulation Qilian Mountains
["Chen, Ji-Zu","Du, Wen-Tao","Kang, Shi-Chang","Qin, Xiang","Sun, Wei-Jun","Luo, Li-Hui","Li, Yang","Yang, Jun-Hua","Jiang, You-Yan"] 2024-08-01 期刊论文
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Global warming in tandem with surface albedo reduction caused by black carbon (BC) deposition on glaciers accelerated glacier melting; however, their respective contributions remain unclear. Glaciers in the Qilian Mountains are crucial for the development of oases in the Hexi Corridor; however, their area has decreased by more than 20% over the past half-century. Thus, this study developed a dynamic deposition model for light-absorbing particles (LAPs), coupled with a surface energy and mass balance model. We comprehensively assessed the effects of BC and warming on the melting of a typical glacier in the Qilian Mountains based on the coupled model. BC on the glacier surface caused 13.1% of annual glacier-wide melting, of which directly deposited atmospheric BC reduced the surface albedo by 0.02 and accounted for 9.1% of glacier melting. The air temperature during 2000-2010 has increased by 1.5 degrees C relative to that during the 1950s, accounting for 51.9% of current glacier melting. Meanwhile, BC emission have increased by 4.6 times compared to those of the early Industrial Revolution recorded in an ice core, accounting conservatively for 6.3% of current glacier melting. Mitigating BC emissions has a limited influence on current glacier melting; however, in the long-term, mitigation should exert a noteworthy impact on glacier melting through the self-purification of glaciers.
来源平台:ADVANCES IN CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH