Exploring the Effects of Solar Radiation Management on Water Cycling in a Coupled Land-Atmosphere Model

Abstract:

Solar radiation management (SRM) has been proposed as a form of geoengineering to reduce the warming effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Modeling studies have concluded that SRM roughly compensates for global mean temperature changes induced by greenhouse gas forcing, while large-scale hydrologic cycle changes persist. This is driven by both the sensitivity of surface energy fluxes to changes in shortwave versus longwave radiation, and the physiological effect of carbon dioxide on vegetation. We explore the impact of SRM on the hydrologic cycle that may contribute to local and regional temperature and temperature variability. Regional and seasonal changes are examined under simulations using the Community Land Model, version 4, with reductions in solar radiation relative to simulations with present-day and elevated CO₂ concentrations. There are significant regional impacts due to vegetation-climate interactions that are not compensated under SRM, including changes in evapotranspiration, soil moisture, and runoff. In the tropics, evapotranspiration decreases due to increased vegetation water use efficiency, increasing soil moisture. In northern mid-latitudes, decreases in evapotranspiration do not always translate to increases in soil moisture due in part to the precipitation response. These results imply that SRM does not compensate for higher greenhouse gas concentrations when one considers land-atmosphere interactions.