Locating the missing absorption enhancement due to multi‒core black carbon aerosols

Xiyao Chen, Joseph Ching, Feng Wu, Hitoshi Matsui, Mark Z. Jacobson, Fan Zhang, Yuanyuan Wang, Zexuan Zhang, Dantong Liu, Shupeng Zhu, Yinon Rudich, Zongbo Shi, Hanjin Yoo, Ki-Joon Jeon and Weijun Li ()
Additional contact information
Xiyao Chen: Zhejiang University, State Key Laboratory of Ocean Sensing and Department of Atmospheric Sciences, School of Earth Sciences
Joseph Ching: The Education University of Hong Kong, Department of Science and Environmental Studies
Feng Wu: Chinese Academy of Science, Key Laboratory of Aerosol Chemistry and Physics and State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment
Hitoshi Matsui: Nagoya University, Graduate School of Environmental Studies
Mark Z. Jacobson: Stanford University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Fan Zhang: Zhejiang University, State Key Laboratory of Ocean Sensing and Department of Atmospheric Sciences, School of Earth Sciences
Yuanyuan Wang: Zhejiang University, State Key Laboratory of Ocean Sensing and Department of Atmospheric Sciences, School of Earth Sciences
Zexuan Zhang: Zhejiang University, State Key Laboratory of Ocean Sensing and Department of Atmospheric Sciences, School of Earth Sciences
Dantong Liu: Zhejiang University, State Key Laboratory of Ocean Sensing and Department of Atmospheric Sciences, School of Earth Sciences
Shupeng Zhu: Zhejiang University, State Key Laboratory of Ocean Sensing and Department of Atmospheric Sciences, School of Earth Sciences
Yinon Rudich: Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Zongbo Shi: University of Birmingham, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Hanjin Yoo: Inha University, Particle Pollution Research and Management Centre
Ki-Joon Jeon: Inha University, Department of Environmental Engineering
Weijun Li: Zhejiang University, State Key Laboratory of Ocean Sensing and Department of Atmospheric Sciences, School of Earth Sciences

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Black carbon (BC) aerosols, with their strong light-absorbing ability, are major drivers of the global climate. In existing models, BC aerosols are simplified as a single core when determining radiative effects. Here, we found that 21% of BC aerosols contain multiple cores during a wildfire smoke observation. By considering dynamic effective medium approximation (DEMA) with Mie theory and assuming randomly distributed multi‒core BC, the light absorption was 1.81 times greater than that under the single‒core assumption for particles with overall diameters >400 nm and core diameters >200 nm. A machine learning emulator was developed for DEMA-based absorption enhancements and incorporated into a global atmospheric model. For global aerosol absorption, multi‒core BC particles lead to a 19% increase, especially in wildfire-affected regions. This study emphasizes the critical role of multi‒core BC particles in amplifying radiative forcing and the necessity to revise models for the simulation of BC climate impact.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65079-2

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