Impacts of changes in climate, land use, and emissions on global ozone air quality by mid-21st century following selected Shared Socioeconomic Pathways

Surface ozone (O3) is a major air pollutant and greenhouse gas with significant risks to human health, vegetation, and climate. Uncertainties around the impacts of various critical factors on O3 is crucial to understand. We used the Community Earth System Model to investigate the impacts of land use and land cover change (LULCC), climate, and emissions on global O3 air quality under selected Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). Our findings show that increasing forest cover by 20 % under SSP1 in East China, Europe, and the eastern US leads to higher isoprene emissions leading 2–5 ppb increase in summer O3 levels. Climate-induced meteorological changes, like rising temperatures, further enhance BVOC emissions and increase O3 levels by 10–20 ppb in urban areas with high NOx levels. However, higher BVOC emissions can reduce O3 levels by 5–10 ppb in remote environments. Future NOx emissions control reduces O3 levels by 5–20 ppb in the US and Europe in all SSPs, but reductions in NOx and changes in oxidant titration increase O3 in southeast China in SSP5. Increased NOx emissions in southern Africa and India significantly elevate O3 levels up to 15 ppb under different SSPs. Climate change is equally important as emissions changes, sometimes countering the benefits of emissions control. The combined effects of emissions, climate, and land cover result in worse O3 air quality in northern India (+40 %) and East China (+20 %) under SSP3 due to anthropogenic NOx and climate-induced BVOC emissions. Over the northern hemisphere, surface O3 decreases due to reduced NOx emissions, although climate and land use changes can increase O3 levels regionally. By 2050, O3 levels in most Asian regions exceed the World Health Organization safety limit for over 150 days per year. Our study emphasizes the need to consider complex interactions for effective air pollution control and management in the future. [Display omitted] •CESM is used to analyze the effects of land use, climate, and emissions on O3.•Increase in isoprene emissions with forest cover increases O3 in specific regions.•NOx emissions control reduces O3, but climate change counteracts these benefits.•Future O3 exceeds WHO standard in many Asian regions for over half a year, harming human health.