Publication Date:
2016-05-20
Description:
The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) plays an important role in the climate variability of the Northern Hemisphere with significant consequences on long-range pollutant transport. We investigate the evolution of pollutant transport in the 21st century influenced by the NAO under a global climate change scenario. We use a free-running simulation performed by the ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model coupled with the ocean general circulation model MPIOM, covering the period from 1950 until 2100. We find that NAO trends will continue to interchange in the future considering variable length periods, while the overall trend (150 years) is weakly positive. To investigate the future NAO effects on transport we consider carbon monoxide tracers with exponential decay and constant interannual emissions. We find that at end of the century south-west Mediterranean and Africa will see higher pollutant concentrations with respect to the past. On the contrary, central Europe and a wider part of north Europe will benefit from increased pollutant depletion. Therefore, under a global climate change scenario local air quality conditions over Europe and North Africa, influenced by North Atlantic teleconnection activity, will become more extreme.
Electronic ISSN:
1680-7375
Topics:
Geosciences
