Clouds play a critical role in modulating the Earth’s radiation balance and climate. Anthropogenic aerosol particles that undergo aging processes, such as soot, aid cloud droplet and ice crystal formation and thus influence the microphysical structure of clouds. However, the associated changes in cloud radiative properties and climate effects remain uncertain and are largely omitted in climate models. Here we present global climate simulations of past and future effects of both ozone-aged soot particles acting as cloud condensation nuclei and sulfuric acid-aged soot particles acting as ice-nucleating particles on the structure and radiative effects of clouds. Under pre-industrial conditions, soot aging led to an increase in thick, low-level clouds that reduced negative shortwave effective radiative forcing by 0.2 to 0.3 W m⁻². In the simulations of a future, warmer climate under double pre-industrial atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, soot aging and compensating cloud adjustments led to a reduction in low-level clouds and enhanced high-altitude cirrus cloud thickness, which influenced the longwave radiative balance and exacerbated the global mean surface warming by 0.4 to 0.5 K. Our findings suggest that reducing emissions of soot particles is beneficial for future climate, in addition to air quality and human health.

云在调节地球的辐射平衡和气候中起关键作用。经历烟灰等老化过程的人为气溶胶颗粒有助于云滴和冰晶的形成，从而影响云的微物理结构。但是，云辐射特性和气候影响的相关变化仍然不确定，在气候模型中基本上被忽略。在这里，我们介绍了臭氧老化的烟灰颗粒（用作云凝结核）和硫酸老化的烟灰颗粒（用作冰成核颗粒）对云的结构和辐射影响的过去和未来影响的全球气候模拟。在工业化前的条件下，烟灰的老化导致厚的低层云的增加，使负短波有效辐射强迫降低了0.2至0.3 W m⁻²。在未来的模拟中，工业化前的大气二氧化碳浓度增加，烟灰老化和补偿性云调整导致气候变暖，导致低水平云减少，高海拔卷云厚度增加，这影响了长波辐射平衡和使全球平均表面变暖加剧了0.4到0.5K。我们的研究结果表明，减少烟尘颗粒的排放除了对空气质量和人体健康有好处，还对未来的气候有益。