Quantifying Precipitation Suppression Due to Air Pollution

Abstract

Urban air pollution and industrial air pollution have been shown qualitatively to suppress rain and snow. Here, precipitation losses over topographical barriers downwind of major coastal urban areas in California and in the land of Israel that amount to 15%–25% of the annual precipitation are quantified. The suppression occurs mainly in the relatively shallow orographic clouds within the cold air mass of cyclones. The suppression that occurs over the upslope side is coupled with similar percentage enhancement on the much drier downslope side of the hills. The evidence includes significant decreasing trends of the ratio of hill to coast precipitation during the twentieth century in polluted areas in line with the increasing emissions during the same period, whereas no trends are observed in similar nearby pristine areas. The evidence suggests that air-pollution aerosols that are incorporated in orographic clouds slow down cloud-drop coalescence and riming on ice precipitation and hence delay the conversion of cloud water into precipitation. This effect explains the pattern of greatest loss of precipitation at the midlevel of the upwind slopes, smaller losses at the crest, and enhancement at the downslope side of the hills.