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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Arctic aerosols and the ‘Divergence Problem’ in dendroclimatology

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Considering the importance and complexity of natural (e.g., volcanic eruptions and wildfires) and anthropogenic (e.g., mining, oil and shipping industries) aerosol emissions to Arctic warming is particularly timely given the recent temperature extremes recorded at high-northern latitudes (Cohen et al., 2020; Overland and Wang, 2021). Despite our knowledge about the observed and modelled climatic effects of rising Arctic aerosol concentrations (Schmale et al., 2021), which may exhibit regional and seasonal differences and call for diverse research priorities from local to circumpolar scales, we feel that the ecological consequences of an aerosol-induced reduction in surface irradiance (i.e., Arctic Dimming) justify more thorough tree-ring investigations in the future. We argue that this is particularly true if the goal is to enhance our understanding of all aerosol generating processes that impact terrestrial vegetation and its ability to assimilate carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.