Global warming makes nitrogen oxide abatement key to ozone pollution mitigation

Résumé fourni par la source

Global warming has become a critical factor affecting surface ozone (O 3 ) pollution. The effectiveness of emission reductions for O 3 pollution mitigation largely relies on the sensitivity of O 3 production to its precursors. However, how global warming affects the O 3 sensitivity remains unclear, posing a grand challenge in developing effective strategies for O 3 pollution mitigation. Here, by using comprehensive ambient observations to constrain model simulations, we show a strong temperature dependence of O 3 sensitivity over a large temperature range (−5° to 37°C) in Chinese cities. O 3 sensitivity shifts toward the nitrogen oxide–limited regime at higher temperatures. Temperature change alters the reaction regime by primarily modulating the rate coefficient of radical termination, rather than that of radical cycling, and by altering emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds. Overall, future global warming will accelerate the transition of O 3 sensitivity toward the nitrogen oxide–limited regime, amplifying the benefits of nitrogen oxide emission abatement in mitigating O 3 pollution in urban areas worldwide.

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