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Abstract A catastrophic heatwave struck North America (NA) in the summer of 2021, the underlying cause of which currently remains unclear. The reanalysis data (1980–2021) is analyzed to elucidate the mechanism modulating the summer heatwaves. We find the heatwaves over western NA tend to occur concurrently with quasi-barotropic ridges (QBTRs). The 2021 record-breaking heatwave, in particular, coincides with an extended eight-day QBTR event. The frequency of QBTRs is modulated by large-scale forcing. During the period of 1980–2000, it is correlated with the Arctic Oscillation. After 2000, however, the QBTR frequency is highly associated with sea ice variations. Specifically, the negative sea ice anomalies in the Chukchi Sea are usually associated with stronger net surface shortwave radiation and low cloud cover, triggering upward motion and a low-pressure center in the low- and mid-troposphere. The low pressure strengthens a stationary wave response, concomitant with two alternately high- and low-pressure centers, inducing more frequent QBTRs over western NA. These findings indicate that further Arctic sea ice loss under a warming climate will likely lead to more devastating heatwaves over western NA. 

China has been experiencing severe ozone pollution problems in recent years. While a number of studies have focused on the ozone-pollution-prone regions such as the North China Plain, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta regions, few studies have investigated the mechanisms modulating the interannual variability of ozone concentrations in Shandong Province, where a large population is located and is often subject to ozone pollution. By utilizing both the reanalysis dataset and regional numerical model (WRF-CMAQ), we delve into the potential governing mechanisms of ozone pollution in Shandong Province—especially over the major port city of Qingdao—during summer 2014–2019. During this period, ozone pollution in Qingdao exceeded the tier II standard of the Chinese National Ambient Air Quality (GB 3095-2012) for 75 days. From the perspective of meteorology, the high-pressure ridge over Baikal Lake and to its northeast, which leads to a relatively low humidity and sufficient sunlight, is the most critical weather system inducing high-ozone events in Qingdao. In terms of emissions, biogenic emissions contribute to ozone enhancement close to 10 ppb in the west and north of Shandong Province. Numerical experiments show that the local impact of biogenic emissions on ozone production in Shandong Province is relatively small, whereas biogenic emissions on the southern flank of Shandong Province enhance ozone production and further transport northeastward, resulting in an increase in ozone concentrations over Shandong Province. For the port city of Qingdao, ship emissions increase ozone concentrations when sea breezes (easterlies) prevail over Qingdao, with the 95th percentile reaching 8.7 ppb. The findings in this study have important implications for future ozone pollution in Shandong Province, as well as the northern and coastal areas in China. 

Abstract. New particle formation (NPF) and subsequent particle growth are importantsources of condensation nuclei (CN) and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN).While many observations have shown positive contributions of NPF to CCN atlow supersaturation, negative NPF contributions were often simulated inpolluted environments. Using the observations in a coastal city of Qingdao,Beijing, and Gucheng in north China, we thoroughly evaluate the simulatednumber concentrations of CN and CCN using an NPF-explicit parameterizationembedded in the WRF-Chem model. For CN, the initial simulation shows largebiases of particle number concentrations at 10–40 and 40–100 nm. Byadjusting the process of gas–particle partitioning, including the massaccommodation coefficient (MAC) of sulfuric acid, the phase changes in primary organic aerosol emissions, and the condensational amount of nitric acid, the improvement of the particle growth process yields substantially reduced overestimation of CN. Regarding CCN, secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formed from the oxidation of semi-volatile and intermediate-volatility organic compounds (S/IVOCs) is called SI-SOA, the yield of which is an important contributor. At default settings, the SI-SOA yield is too high without considering the differences in precursor oxidation rates. Lowering the SI-SOA yield under linear H2SO4 nucleation scheme results in much-improved CCN simulations compared to observations. On the basis of the bias-corrected model, we find substantially positive contributions of NPF to CCN at low supersaturation (∼ 0.2 %) over broad areas of China, primarily due to competing effects of increasing particle hygroscopicity, a result of reductions in SI-SOA amount, surpassing that of particle size decreases. The bias-corrected model is robustly applicable to other schemes, such as the quadratic H2SO4 nucleation scheme, in terms of CN and CCN, though the dependence of CCN on SI-SOA yield is diminished likely due to changes in particle composition. This study highlights potentially much larger NPF contributions to CCN on a regional and even global basis.

 

Using meteorological observation data and NCEP/NCAR (National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research) reanalysis data, the impacts of the atmospheric circulation pattern on the interannual variability of haze-fog in northern China in January are studied by means of statistical methods. The results showed that the Eurasian teleconnection (EU) at the 500 hPa isostatic surface is the most important pattern affecting the haze-fog frequency in northern China. However, the existing EU index cannot perfectly describe this pattern. To this end, this study selects three main activity centers to define a new EU index, which are located in the Europe (10 °E, 55 °N), Siberia (80 °E, 60 °N), and Shandong, China (120 °E, 40 °N). The difference between the existing EU index and the new EU index is mainly the position of the anomaly center of the 500 hPa geopotential height. The EU is in a negative phase in higher haze-fog years but is in a positive phase in lower haze-fog years. The 500 hPa geopotential height shows negative anomalies in Europe and East Asian and a positive anomaly in Siberia in the negative EU phase. Using Plumb wave activity flux analysis, it was found that the cold wave affecting northern China is less in the negative EU phase than that in the positive EU phase, which resulted in more haze-fog days. In addition, the results also showed that the EU pattern goes through a considerable development and decay within 13 days. The visibility starts to significantly decrease at a lag of −1 to 2 days in the negative EU peak phase and is influenced by the weak north wind that is caused by the high pressure. 

Abstract. In the summer of 2017, heavy ozone pollution swamped most of the North ChinaPlain (NCP), with the maximum regional average of daily maximum 8 h ozoneconcentration (MDA8) reaching almost 120 ppbv. In light of the continuingreduction of anthropogenic emissions in China, the underlying mechanisms forthe occurrences of these regional extreme ozone episodes are elucidated fromtwo perspectives: meteorology and biogenic emissions. The significantpositive correlation between MDA8 ozone and temperature, which is amplifiedduring heat waves concomitant with stagnant air and no precipitation,supports the crucial role of meteorology in driving high ozoneconcentrations. We also find that biogenic emissions are enhanced due tofactors previously not considered. During the heavy ozone pollution episodesin June 2017, biogenic emissions driven by high vapor pressure deficit(VPD), land cover change and urban landscape yield an extra mean MDA8 ozoneof 3.08, 2.79 and 4.74 ppbv, respectively, over the NCP, which togethercontribute as much to MDA8 ozone as biogenic emissions simulated using theland cover of 2003 and ignoring VPD and urban landscape. In Beijing, thebiogenic emission increase due to urban landscape has a comparable effect onMDA8 ozone to the combined effect of high VPD and land cover change between2003 and 2016. In light of the large effect of urban landscape on biogenicemission and the subsequent ozone formation, the types of trees may becautiously selected to take into account of the biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emission during the afforestation of cities. This study highlights the vital contributions ofheat waves, land cover change and urbanization to the occurrence of extremeozone episodes, with significant implications for ozone pollution control ina future when heat wave frequency and intensity are projected to increaseunder global warming.