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Separating Emission and Meteorological Drivers ofMid‐21st‐Century Air Quality Changes in IndiaBased on Multiyear Global‐RegionalChemistry‐Climate Simulations
Author(s) -
Wu Xiaokang,
Xu Yangyang,
Kumar Rajesh,
Barth Mary
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1029/2019jd030988
Subject(s) - environmental science , air quality index , climatology , monsoon , climate change , planetary boundary layer , atmospheric sciences , pollution , air pollution , wind speed , meteorology , geography , turbulence , oceanography , geology , ecology , chemistry , organic chemistry , biology
Many Indian metropolitan areas currently suffer from severe air pollution such as PM 2.5 , which might continue into future decades, dependent on the trends in emission growth and regional climate. Based on a multiyear Nested Regional Climate Model coupled with Chemistry simulation, we developed a daily index (Hazy Weather Index for India, HWII) to characterize the meteorology‐pollution relationship over three heavily polluted cities (Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai) and Indo‐Gangetic Plain. HWII consists of near‐surface (10 m) zonal wind (U10) and temperature at 200 hPa (T200) over the northwestern Indian Ocean, and local planetary boundary layer height. The simulated PM 2.5 levels during the Historical Period (1997–2004) exhibit robust negative correlation with the HWII. The negative correlation captures day‐to‐day covariability of surface PM 2.5 and meteorology, highlighting the role of monsoon‐related large‐scale circulation in redistributing locally emitted pollutants. More importantly, two future (2046–2054) simulations with regional warming under the Representative Concentration Pathway 6.0 and 8.5 were analyzed. The future changes in HWII and the three predictive meteorological variables work in favor of a stronger pollution horizontal dispersion and vertical ventilation and thus could lead to a reduction of PM 2.5 level by 7%. The meteorology‐driven reduction in PM 2.5 , however, is overwhelmed by the projected growth in anthropogenic emission (especially under Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 emission by 31%). Our results are contrary to previous studies over other regions (e.g., China) where future climate change might contribute to PM 2.5 increase.