Abstract
The possible latitude-dependent, man-made albedo changes is derived from radiation budget calculations based upon vertical aerosol particle concentration profiles for three size classes resulting from a two-dimensional (resolving latitude and height) global aerosol transport mode. The main result, albedo enhancement (i.e., reduced greenhouse effect of the atmosphere) is caused by cloud albedo increase rather than by enhanced backscattering from cloudfree parts of the atmosphere. The strong dependence of the local planetary albedo change on aerosol particle size distribution change and soot content underlines the need for more reliable input parameters and more sophisticated models before the sign and the relative magnitude of an aerosol climate signal, as compared to the additional greenhouse effect by increased trace gas concentration, may be given with higher reliability. -from Author
