Dry and warm conditions in Australia exacerbated by aerosol reduction in China

Gao, Jiyuan; Yang, Yang; Wang, Hailong; Wang, Pinya; Liao, Hong

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10949-2025

Articles | Volume 25, issue 18

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10949-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10949-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 25, issue 18

Research article

|

23 Sep 2025

Research article |

| 23 Sep 2025

Dry and warm conditions in Australia exacerbated by aerosol reduction in China

Jiyuan Gao, Yang Yang, Hailong Wang, Pinya Wang, and Hong Liao

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10949-2025-supplement

Data sets

Data for "Drier and warmer conditions in Australia exacerbated by aerosol reduction in China" Jiyuan Gao https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13682943

GPM IMERG Final Precipitation L3 1 month 0.1 degree x 0.1 degree V07 G. J. Huffman et al. https://doi.org/10.5067/GPM/IMERG/3B-MONTH/07

Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Monthly Analysis (Version 3.2), NOAA PSL R. F. Adler et al. https://psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded/data.gpcp.html

ERA5 monthly averaged data on single levels from 1940 to present, Copernicus Climate Change Service Climate Data Store (CDS) Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.f17050d7

MODIS Atmosphere L3 Monthly Product, NASA MODIS Adaptive Processing System S. Platnick et al. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD08_M3.061

Model code and software

Community Earth System Model (CESM), GitHub National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) https://github.com/ESCOMP/CESM

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Short summary

The decline in aerosols in China alters temperature and pressure gradients between the two hemispheres, which intensifies the Southern Trade Winds and causes a moisture divergence in Australia, resulting in less rainfall. Reduced surface moisture leads to more energy being converted into sensible heat instead of evaporating as latent heat, which raises near-surface temperatures in Australia. Our findings offer insights for managing drought and wildfire risks in Australia.