Critical contribution of south Asian residential emissions to atmospheric black carbon over the Tibetan plateau

Junhua Yang; Shichang Kang; Zhenming Ji

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135923

Critical contribution of south Asian residential emissions to atmospheric black carbon over the Tibetan plateau

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Mar 20:709:135923. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135923. Epub 2019 Dec 5.

Authors

Junhua Yang¹, Shichang Kang², Zhenming Ji³

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Lanzhou 730000, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Lanzhou 730000, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: shichang.kang@lzb.ac.cn.
³ School of Atmospheric Sciences, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Climate Change and Natural Disaster Studies, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; Southern Laboratory of Ocean Science and Engineering (Guangdong, Zhuhai), Zhuhai 519000, China. Electronic address: jizhm3@mail.sysu.edu.cn.

PMID: 31884284
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135923

Abstract

Black carbon (BC) over the Tibetan Plateau (TP), both in the air and deposited on the surface of snow and ice, has been shown to accelerate the retreat of mountain glaciers. Previous study indicated that South Asian anthropogenic emissions primarily contributed to atmospheric loading of BC over the TP, it is essential to further identify the major sector in South Asia and provide guidance for potential mitigation strategies. In this study, the regional atmospheric chemistry model WRF-Chem was run for an entire year. The results suggested that residential BC emissions from South Asia contributed the largest (25.8% in summer and 44.8% in winter) to BC concentrations over the TP compared to other anthropogenic emission sectors in the region. Furthermore, significant seasonal variability existed in the transport process of residential BC from South Asia to the TP. The South Asia monsoon during summer and the mountain-valley wind system during spring could transport South Asian residential BC across the Himalayas to the TP. However, the higher transportation flux along 30°N indicated that the transport was mainly influenced by westerly winds, implying that residential emissions from northern India were the critical source of BC aerosols over the TP. A further assessment of emission control strategies suggested that reducing emissions from South Asian residential sources can effectively reduce BC concentrations over the TP, which may potentially alleviate the TP's accelerating glacier melting.

Keywords: Black carbon; Contribution; Residential emissions; South Asia; Tibetan plateau.