Clean air policies are key for successfully mitigating Arctic warming

• Main Authors: von Salzen, K, Whaley, CH, Anenberg, SC, Van Dingenen, R, Klimont, Z, Flanner, MG, Mahmood, R, Arnold, SR, Beagley, S, Chien, R-Y, Christensen, JH, Eckhardt, S, Ekman, AML, Evangeliou, N, Faluvegi, G, Fu, JS, Gauss, M, Gong, W, Hjorth, JL, Im, U, Krishnan, S, Kupiainen, K, Kühn, T, Langner, J, Law, KS, Marelle, L, Olivié, D, Onishi, T, Oshima, N, Paunu, V-V, Peng, Y, Plummer, D, Pozzoli, L, Rao, S, Raut, J-C, Sand, M, Schmale, J, Sigmond, M, Thomas, MA, Tsigaridis, K, Tsyro, S, Turnock, ST, Wang, M, Winter, B
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Research 2022
• Subjects: Arctic; Human health
• Online Access: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/192875/; https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/192875/1/s43247-022-00555-x.pdf

A tighter integration of modeling frameworks for climate and air quality is urgently needed to assess the impacts of clean air policies on future Arctic and global climate. We combined a new model emulator and comprehensive emissions scenarios for air pollutants and greenhouse gases to assess climate and human health co-benefits of emissions reductions. Fossil fuel use is projected to rapidly decline in an increasingly sustainable world, resulting in far-reaching air quality benefits. Despite human health benefits, reductions in sulfur emissions in a more sustainable world could enhance Arctic warming by 0.8 °C in 2050 relative to the 1995–2014, thereby offsetting climate benefits of greenhouse gas reductions. Targeted and technically feasible emissions reduction opportunities exist for achieving simultaneous climate and human health co-benefits. It would be particularly beneficial to unlock a newly identified mitigation potential for carbon particulate matter, yielding Arctic climate benefits equivalent to those from carbon dioxide reductions by 2050.