Articles | Volume 26, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-95-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-95-2026
Research article
 | 
05 Jan 2026
Research article |  | 05 Jan 2026

Resolving the roles of soot and dust in cirrus cloud ice formation at regional and global scales: insights from parcel and climate modeling

Xiaohan Li, Songmiao Fan, Huan Guo, and Paul Ginoux

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Cited articles

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Alpert, P. A. and Knopf, D. A.: Analysis of isothermal and cooling-rate-dependent immersion freezing by a unifying stochastic ice nucleation model, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 2083–2107, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2083-2016, 2016. a, b
Barahona, D., Rodriguez, J., and Nenes, A.: Sensitivity of the global distribution of cirrus ice crystal concentration to heterogeneous freezing, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 115, D23213, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JD014273, 2010. a
Barahona, D., Molod, A., and Kalesse, H.: Direct estimation of the global distribution of vertical velocity within cirrus clouds, Scientific Reports, 7, 6840, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-07038-6, 2017. a
Baran, A. J.: From the single-scattering properties of ice crystals to climate prediction: A way forward, Atmospheric Research, 112, 45–69, 2012. a
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Short summary
We used computer simulations to show that soot from wildfires and human activities has a bigger impact on high-altitude clouds than previously known. These particles create more ice crystals, which leads to a net warming effect on the climate in polar regions. Understanding this process is crucial for making accurate climate predictions as global wildfire activity increases.
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