Abstract
Air pollution fluctuations have been found to strongly depend on the weather dynamics. Here we identify the significant atmospheric processes that affect the local daily variability of air pollution. We develop a multilayered network analysis to detect the interlinks between the 500-hPa geopotential height and surface air pollution in both China and the United States. We find that Rossby waves significantly affect air pollution fluctuations through the development of cyclone and anticyclone systems and further affect the local stability of the air and the winds. Some of these systems are remote (∼3,000 km) and lead to air pollution 1–2 days later. Thus, the impact of Rossby waves on human life is greater than previously believed. The rapid warming of the Arctic could slow down Rossby waves, thus increasing human health risks. Our method can help to determine the risk assessment of such extreme events and can improve potential predictability.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 12476-12485 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue number | 21 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 16 Nov 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:©2019. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
Funding
We thank Dean Chen for helpful discussions. We thank the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and the Israeli Ministry of Science, Technology, and Space; the Israel Science Foundation, ONR, Japan Science Foundation, BSF-NSF, ARO, the EU H2020 project RISE, and DTRA (Grant HDTRA-1-10-1-0014) for financial support. We also acknowledge the data resources provided by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China (http://113.108.142.147:20035/emcpublish/) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (https://www.epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data/). J. F. acknowledges the “East Africa Peru India Climate Capacities—EPICC” project, which is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) is leading the execution of the project together with its project partners The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD). We thank Dean Chen for helpful discussions. We thank the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and the Israeli Ministry of Science, Technology, and Space; the Israel Science Foundation, ONR, Japan Science Foundation, BSF‐NSF, ARO, the EU H2020 project RISE, and DTRA (Grant HDTRA‐1‐10‐1‐0014) for financial support. We also acknowledge the data resources provided by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China ( http://113.108.142.147:20035/emcpublish/ ) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ( https://www.epa.gov/outdoor‐air‐quality‐data/ ). J. F. acknowledges the “East Africa Peru India Climate Capacities—EPICC” project, which is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) is leading the execution of the project together with its project partners The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| BSF-NSF | |
| BSF‐NSF | |
| Deutscher Wetterdienst | |
| EPICC | |
| EU H2020 | HDTRA‐1‐10‐1‐0014 |
| Energy and Resources Institute | |
| Japan Science Foundation | |
| Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research | |
| TERI | |
| Office of Naval Research | |
| U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | |
| Army Research Office | |
| Ministry of Science, Technology and Space | |
| Israel Science Foundation | |
| Ministry of Environmental Protection | |
| Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit | |
| Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale | |
| Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, nukleare Sicherheit und Verbraucherschutz | |
| “East Africa Peru India Climate Capacities |
