Trends and Dynamics of Ozone Exposure Metrics in the USA and Europe
Abstract
Ozone is a powerful oxidant that degrades air quality and is a greenhouse gas. As such, it has negative societal impacts and contributes to climate change. A variety of exposure metrics for humans and crops have been developed that help quantify damages induced by ozone. In this study, we use a combination of long-term surface observations of ozone in the USA and Europe and bias corrected chemical transport model simulations to estimate a suite of these exposure metrics from 2000-2015. These two regions featured significant decreases in short-lived ozone precursor emissions (i.e. NOx, VOC, CO) during this period, which generally influences short-term peaks of ozone. However for methane, which influences the background concentrations of ozone year-round, there was stabilization around 2000 and a renewed rise starting in 2007. We discuss these dynamics, including how they influence individual exposure metrics over time and how these exposure metrics have changed due to methane's renewed rise, how ozone impacts have changed over this period, and address implications for the future.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFMGH13D0959S
- Keywords:
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- 0230 Impacts of climate change: human health;
- GEOHEALTHDE: 0231 Impacts of climate change: agricultural health;
- GEOHEALTHDE: 0232 Impacts of climate change: ecosystem health;
- GEOHEALTHDE: 0240 Public health;
- GEOHEALTH