Increased night-time oxidation over China despite widespread decrease across the globe

Haichao Wang; Haolin Wang; Xiao Lu; Keding Lu; Yee Jun Tham; Zongbo Shi; Kenneth Aikin; Shaojia Fan; Steven S. Brown; Yuanhang Zhang; Lin Zhang

doi:10.1038/s41561-022-01122-x

Increased night-time oxidation over China despite widespread decrease across the globe

Haichao Wang, Haolin Wang, Xiao Lu, Keding Lu^*, Yee Jun Tham, Zongbo Shi, Kenneth Aikin, Shaojia Fan, Steven S. Brown^*, Yuanhang Zhang^*, Lin Zhang

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Nitrogen oxides (NO_x = NO + NO₂) emitted from combustion and natural sources are reactive gases that regulate the composition of Earth’s atmosphere. Nocturnal oxidation driven by nitrate radicals is an important but poorly understood process in atmospheric chemistry, affecting the lifetimes of NO_x and ozone and particulate pollution levels. Understanding the trends of nitrate radicals is important to formulating effective pollution mitigation strategies and understanding the influence of NO_x on climate. Here we analyse publicly available monitoring data on NO_x and ozone to assess production rates and trends of surface nitrate radicals from 2014 to 2021 across the globe. We show that nitrate radicals have undergone strong increases in China during 2014–2019 but exhibited modest decreases in the United States and the European Union. Accelerated night-time oxidation has shortened the lifetime of summer NO_x in China by 30% during 2014–2019. This change will strongly affect ozone formation and has policy implications for the joint control of ozone and fine particulate pollution.

Original language	English
Journal	Nature Geoscience
Early online date	26 Jan 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01122-x
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 26 Jan 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Haichao Wang received financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 42175111). K.L. received financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 22221004, 21976006, 91844301). K.L. received financial support from the Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars (JQ19031). K.L. received financial support from the National Research Program for Key Issue in Air Pollution Control (2019YFC0214800). Haichao Wang received financial support from the National State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Formation and Prevention of Urban Air Pollution Complex (grant CX2020080578). Y.J.T. received financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (42175118) and Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2022A1515010852).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Earth and Planetary Sciences

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1038/s41561-022-01122-x

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Cite this

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abstract = "Nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2) emitted from combustion and natural sources are reactive gases that regulate the composition of Earth{\textquoteright}s atmosphere. Nocturnal oxidation driven by nitrate radicals is an important but poorly understood process in atmospheric chemistry, affecting the lifetimes of NOx and ozone and particulate pollution levels. Understanding the trends of nitrate radicals is important to formulating effective pollution mitigation strategies and understanding the influence of NOx on climate. Here we analyse publicly available monitoring data on NOx and ozone to assess production rates and trends of surface nitrate radicals from 2014 to 2021 across the globe. We show that nitrate radicals have undergone strong increases in China during 2014–2019 but exhibited modest decreases in the United States and the European Union. Accelerated night-time oxidation has shortened the lifetime of summer NOx in China by 30% during 2014–2019. This change will strongly affect ozone formation and has policy implications for the joint control of ozone and fine particulate pollution.",

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Increased night-time oxidation over China despite widespread decrease across the globe

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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