The global cycle of desert dust aerosols responds strongly to climate and human perturbations, and, in turn, impacts climate and biogeochemistry. Here we focus on desert dust size distributions, how these are characterized, emitted from the surface, evolve in the atmosphere, and impact climate and biogeochemistry. Observations, theory and global model results are synthesized to highlight the evolution and impact of dust sizes. Individual particles sizes are, to a large extent, set by the soil properties and the mobilization process. The lifetime of different particle sizes controls the evolution of the size distribution as the particles move downwind, as larger particles fall out more quickly. The dust size distribution strongly controls the radiative impact of the aerosols, as well as their interactions with clouds. The size of particles controls how far downwind they travel, and thus their ability to impact biogeochemistry downwind of the source region

Aerosol‐climate interactions constitute one of the major sources of uncertainty in assessing changes in aerosol forcing in the anthropocene as well as understanding glacial‐interglacial cycles. Here we focus on improving the representation of mineral dust in the Community Atmosphere Model and assessing the impacts of the improvements in terms of direct effects on the radiative balance of the atmosphere. We simulated the dust cycle using different parameterization sets for dust emission, size distribution, and optical properties. Comparing the results of these simulations with observations of concentration, deposition, and aerosol optical depth allows us to refine the representation of the dust cycle and its climate impacts. We propose a tuning method for dust parameterizations to allow the dust module to work across the wide variety of parameter settings which can be used within the Community Atmosphere Model. Our results include a better representation of the dust cycle, most notably for the improved size distribution. The estimated net top of atmosphere direct dust radiative forcing is −0.23 ± 0.14 W/m² for present day and −0.32 ± 0.20 W/m² at the Last Glacial Maximum. From our study and sensitivity tests, we also derive some general relevant findings, supporting the concept that the magnitude of the modeled dust cycle is sensitive to the observational data sets and size distribution chosen to constrain the model as well as the meteorological forcing data, even within the same modeling framework, and that the direct radiative forcing of dust is strongly sensitive to the optical properties and size distribution used.

Metal dissolution from atmospheric aerosol deposition to the oceans is important in enhancing and inhibiting phytoplankton growth rates and modifying plankton community structure, thus impacting marine biogeochemistry. Here we review the current state of knowledge on the causes and effects of the leaching of multiple trace metals from natural and anthropogenic aerosols. Aerosol deposition is considered both on short timescales over which phytoplankton respond directly to aerosol metal inputs, as well as longer timescales over which biogeochemical cycles are affected by aerosols.

Air pollution creates high Fe solubility in pyrogenic aerosols, raising the flux of biologically essential Fe to the oceans.

The mineralogy of desert dust is important due to its effect on radiation, clouds and biogeochemical cycling of trace nutrients. This study presents the simulation of dust radiative forcing as a function of both mineral composition and size at the global scale, using mineral soil maps for estimating emissions. Externally mixed mineral aerosols in the bulk aerosol module in the Community Atmosphere Model version 4 (CAM4) and internally mixed mineral aerosols in the modal aerosol module in the Community Atmosphere Model version 5.1 (CAM5) embedded in the Community Earth System Model version 1.0.5 (CESM) are speciated into common mineral components in place of total dust. The simulations with mineralogy are compared to available observations of mineral atmospheric distribution and deposition along with observations of clear-sky radiative forcing efficiency. Based on these simulations, we estimate the all-sky direct radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere as + 0.05 Wm⁻² for both CAM4 and CAM5 simulations with mineralogy. We compare this to the radiative forcing from simulations of dust in release versions of CAM4 and CAM5 (+0.08 and +0.17 Wm⁻²) and of dust with optimized optical properties, wet scavenging and particle size distribution in CAM4 and CAM5, −0.05 and −0.17 Wm⁻², respectively. The ability to correctly include the mineralogy of dust in climate models is hindered by its spatial and temporal variability as well as insufficient global in situ observations, incomplete and uncertain source mineralogies and the uncertainties associated with data retrieved from remote sensing methods.

Purpose of Review Atmospheric aerosol deposition is an important source of nutrients and pollution to many continental and marine ecosystems. Humans have heavily perturbed the cycles of several important aerosol species, potentially affecting terrestrial and marine carbon budgets and consequently climate. The most ecologically important aerosol elements impacted by humans are nitrogen, sulfur, iron, phosphorus, and base cations. Here, we review the latest research on the modification of the atmospheric cycles of these aerosols and their resulting effects on continental and marine ecosystems. Recent Findings Recent studies have improved our understanding of how humans have perturbed atmospheric aerosol cycles and how they may continue to evolve in the future. Research in both aquatic and terrestrial environments has highlighted the role of atmospheric deposition as a nutrient subsidy, with effects on ecosystem productivity. These studies further emphasize the importance of local biogeochemical conditions and biota species composition to the regional responses to aerosol deposition. Summary The size of the impact of anthropogenic aerosol deposition on the carbon cycle and the resulting climate forcing is at present not well understood. It is estimated that increases in nutrient subsidies from atmospheric deposition across all ecosystems are causing an increase in carbon dioxide uptake between 0.2 and 1.5 PgC/year. As aerosol emissions from industrial sources are reduced to improve air quality, these enhancements in carbon uptake may be reduced in the future leading to reduced carbon dioxide emission offsets. However, large uncertainties remain, not only because of limited information on how humans have modified and will modify aerosol emissions, but also because of a lack of quantitative understanding of how aerosol deposition impacts carbon cycling in many ecosystems.