Contributions of World Regions to the Global Tropospheric Ozone Burden Change From 1980 to 2010

Abstract

We investigate the contributions of emission changes from 10 world regions, as well as the global methane concentration change, on the global tropospheric ozone burden change from 1980 to 2010. The modeled global tropospheric ozone burden has increased by 28.1 Tg, with 26.7% (7.5 Tg) of this change attributed to the global methane increase. Southeast Asia (5.6 Tg) and South Asia (4.0) contribute comparably to the global ozone burden change as East Asia (5.6), even though NOx emission increases in each region are less than one-third of those in East Asia, highlighting the greater sensitivity of global ozone to these regions. Emission decreases from North America, Europe, and Former Soviet Union have led to ozone burden decreases of 2.8, 1.0, and 0.3 Tg. The greater sensitivity of the global ozone burden to emission changes in tropical and subtropical regions emphasizes the importance of controlling emissions in these regions for global ozone.