The effect of anthropogenic emission, meteorological factors, and carbon dioxide on the surface ozone increase in China from 2008 to 2018 during the East Asia summer monsoon season

Abstract

Despite the implementation of the Clean Air Action Plan by the Chinese government in 2013, the issue of increasing surface ozone (O3) concentrations remains a significant environmental concern in China. In this study, we used an improved regional climate–chemistry–ecology model (RegCM-Chem-YIBs) to investigate the impact of anthropogenic emissions, meteorological factors, and CO2 changes on summer surface O3 levels in China from 2008 to 2018. Compared to its predecessor, the model has been enhanced concerning the photolysis of O3 and the radiative impacts of CO2 and O3. The investigations showed anthropogenic emissions were the primary contributor to the O3 increase in China, responsible for 4.08–18.51 ppb in the North China Plain. However, changed meteorological conditions played a crucial role in decreasing O3 in China and may have a more significant impact than anthropogenic emissions in some regions. Changed CO2 played a critical role in the variability of O3 through radiative forcing and isoprene emissions, particularly in southern China, inducing an increase in O3 on the southeast coast of China (0.28–0.46 ppb) and a decrease in southwest and central China (−0.51 to −0.11 ppb). Our study comprehensively analyzed O3 variation across China from various perspectives and highlighted the importance of considering CO2 variations when designing long-term O3 control policies, especially in high-vegetation-coverage areas.