The sensitivity of stratospheric ozone changes through the 21st century to N2O and CH4
Item
Title (Dublin Core)
The sensitivity of stratospheric ozone changes through the 21st century to N2O and CH4
Description (Dublin Core)
Through the 21st century, anthropogenic emissions of the greenhouse gases N<sub>2</sub>O and CH<sub>4</sub> are projected to increase, thus increasing their atmospheric concentrations. Consequently, reactive nitrogen species produced from N<sub>2</sub>O and reactive hydrogen species produced from CH<sub>4</sub> are expected to play an increasingly important role in determining stratospheric ozone concentrations. Eight chemistry-climate model simulations were performed to assess the sensitivity of stratospheric ozone to different emissions scenarios for N<sub>2</sub>O and CH<sub>4</sub>. Global-mean total column ozone increases through the 21st century in all eight simulations as a result of CO<sub>2</sub>-induced stratospheric cooling and decreasing stratospheric halogen concentrations. Larger N<sub>2</sub>O concentrations were associated with smaller ozone increases, due to reactive nitrogen-mediated ozone destruction. In the simulation with the largest N<sub>2</sub>O increase, global-mean total column ozone increased by 4.3 DU through the 21st century, compared with 10.0 DU in the simulation with the smallest N<sub>2</sub>O increase. In contrast, larger CH<sub>4</sub> concentrations were associated with larger ozone increases; global-mean total column ozone increased by 16.7 DU through the 21st century in the simulation with the largest CH<sub>4</sub> concentrations and by 4.4 DU in the simulation with the lowest CH<sub>4</sub> concentrations. CH<sub>4</sub> leads to ozone loss in the upper and lower stratosphere by increasing the rate of reactive hydrogen-mediated ozone loss cycles, however in the lower stratosphere and troposphere, CH<sub>4</sub> leads to ozone increases due to photochemical smog-type chemistry. In addition to this mechanism, total column ozone increases due to H<sub>2</sub>O-induced cooling of the stratosphere, and slowing of the chlorine-catalyzed ozone loss cycles due to an increased rate of the CH<sub>4</sub> + Cl reaction. Stratospheric column ozone through the 21st century exhibits a near-linear response to changes in N<sub>2</sub>O and CH<sub>4</sub> surface concentrations, which provides a simple parameterization for the ozone response to changes in these gases.
Creator (Dublin Core)
Revell, L. E.
Bodeker, G. E.
Huck, P. E.
Williamson, B. E.
Rozanov, E.
Date (Dublin Core)
2018-01-15
Type (Dublin Core)
Text
Format (Dublin Core)
application/pdf
Identifier (Dublin Core)
10.5194/acp-12-11309-2012
https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/12/11309/2012/
Source (Dublin Core)
eISSN: 1680-7324
Language (Dublin Core)
eng
