Linkages Between Climate and Air Quality

EPA is working to understand the interactions between air pollution and climate change. Some of the science questions we are addressing include:

How will future climate change affect air quality?
How do short-lived air pollutants impact atmospheric dynamics on regional and global scales?
What will be the regional-scale impact of climate change on precipitation patterns?
How will emission controls implemented for air quality management impact climate change?
What are the most cost-effective ways to mitigate climate change by reducing concentrations of pollutants that contribute to radiative forcing while meeting air quality goals?

The first phase of the Climate Impact on Regional Air Quality (CIRAQ) pilot study has been completed. Other projects that are in progress include:

Developing alternative scenarios for future U.S. emissions of ozone precursors and species that form atmospheric particulate matter.
Developing methods to generate a range of future regional-scale climate scenarios via dynamic downscaling and statistical downscaling.
Developing integrated decision-support tools for rapid assessment of emission scenarios designed for improving air quality and mitigating climate change.
Using the coupled WRF-CMAQ meteorology and chemistry model to investigate feedbacks of future emission scenarios on radiative budget.
Developing improved atmospheric chemistry models for understanding the impact of biogenic isoprene and anthropogenic NOx on short-lived, radiatively active species.

Related Links of Interest:
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson's finding that greenhouse gases threaten human health and welfare.
U.S. Global Change Research Program (GCRP)
U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP)
CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Products
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change