The ozone-climate penalty in the Midwestern U.S.

Journal Article · Fri Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 2017 · Atmospheric Environment (1994)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.09.038· OSTI ID:1482107

Jing, Ping; Lu, Zifeng; Steiner, Allison L.

This paper investigates the relationship between ground-level ozone (O-3) and temperature in the Midwestern U.S. during the period 1990-2015. From 1990 to 2015, the overall trend of 95th percentile temperature showed an increase of 0.04 K yr(-1), while summertime 95th percentile O-3 concentrations in the Midwest decreased at an average rate of 0.7 ppb yr(-1) largely because NO2 concentrations decreased by more than 50%. The ozone-climate penalty, defined as the slope of O-3 change with increasing temperature (Delta O-3/Delta T), was by average 0.43 ppb K-1 less in 1999-2007 than in 1990-1998, indicating the early success of NOx emission controls. However, the slope did not continue to decrease in 2008-2015 despite further NOx emission reductions, and it increased more rapidly with increasing temperature (Delta O-2(3)/Delta T-2) by 0.03-0.09 ppb K-2 in most urban areas of the Midwest. This was accompanied by more frequent dry tropical (DT) weather in the Midwest since 2008. We find that O-3 in DT weather was 12 ppb and 17 ppb higher than in non-DT weather in rural and urban areas, respectively. Furthermore, the 2008-2015 period experienced 8% more surface air stagnation days than in 1990-1998. This demonstrates that, in addition to the impact of warmer temperatures, the ozone-climate penalty could be aggravated by altered weather conditions under climate change. It will be challenging for Midwestern cities to attain the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for O-3 if such conditions persist in the future, and future air quality improvements may require even greater efforts to reduce both NOx and VOC emissions in the Midwest.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
• Sponsoring Organization: National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1482107
• Journal Information: Atmospheric Environment (1994), Journal Name: Atmospheric Environment (1994) Journal Issue: C Vol. 170; ISSN 1352-2310
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

Midwestern U.S.
NOx and VOC emission control
ozone-climate penalty
temperature dependence of O3