Anthropogenic aerosols are effective radiative forcing agents that perturb the Earth’s climate. Major emission sources shifted from the western to eastern hemisphere around the 1980s. An ensemble of single-forcing simulations with an Earth System Model reveals two stages of aerosol-induced climate change in response to the global aerosol increase for 1940–1980 and the zonal shift of aerosol forcing for 1980–2020, respectively. Here, using idealized experiments with hierarchical models, we show that the aerosol increase and shift modes of aerosol-forced climate change are dynamically distinct, governed by the inter-hemispheric energy transport and basin-wide ocean–atmosphere interactions, respectively. The aerosol increase mode dominates in the motionless slab ocean model but is damped by ocean dynamics. Free of zonal-mean energy perturbation, characterized by an anomalous North Atlantic warming and North Pacific cooling, the zonal shift mode is amplified by interactive ocean dynamics through Bjerknes feedback. Both modes contribute to a La Niña-like pattern over the equatorial Pacific. We suggest that a global perspective that accommodates the evolving geographical distribution of aerosol emissions is vital for understanding the aerosol-forced historical climate change.

人为气溶胶是扰乱地球气候的有效辐射强迫剂。1980 年代左右，主要排放源从西半球转移到东半球。使用地球系统模型进行的单一强迫模拟的集合揭示了气溶胶引起的气候变化的两个阶段，分别响应 1940-1980 年全球气溶胶增加和 1980-2020 年气溶胶强迫的纬向转移。在这里，使用分层模型的理想化实验，我们表明气溶胶增加和气溶胶强迫气候变化的变化模式是动态不同的，分别受半球间能量传输和全盆地海洋-大气相互作用的控制。气溶胶增加模式在静止的平板海洋模型中占主导地位，但受到海洋动力学的抑制。没有纬向平均能量扰动，以异常的北大西洋变暖和北太平洋变冷为特征，纬向转移模式通过 Bjerknes 反馈被交互式海洋动力学放大。这两种模式都有助于赤道太平洋出现类似拉尼娜现象的模式。我们认为，适应气溶胶排放不断变化的地理分布的全球视角对于理解气溶胶引起的历史气候变化至关重要。