This study quantitatively analyzed the impact of temperature rise due to climate change on the effectiveness of air quality policies by evaluating changes in ozone concentration in Seoul based on scenarios. Based on the SSP5-8.5 scenario, a 1.5℃ tem...
This study quantitatively analyzed the impact of temperature rise due to climate change on the effectiveness of air quality policies by evaluating changes in ozone concentration in Seoul based on scenarios. Based on the SSP5-8.5 scenario, a 1.5℃ temperature rise condition and an emission reduction scenario reflecting the precursor reduction rates of ozone presented in the “3rd Comprehensive Plan for Air Quality Improvement (2023–2032)” were applied separately and in combination. Through this, the study aimed to assess whether the effectiveness of air quality policy can be maintained under climate change conditions. As a result of the analysis, even when only the Emission Reduction scenario was applied, ozone concentrations increased in most areas of Seoul, showing that in VOCs-limited conditions, NOx reduction can actually increase ozone concentration. In the Temp Up Scenario, the average ozone concentration increased by about 1 ppb, the maximum ozone concentration rose by more than 10 ppb, and the number of exceedances of the 1-hour air quality standard increased by approximately 75%. In the Temp Up + Emission Reduction Scenario, the average ozone concentration increased by 8.6 ppb, the maximum ozone concentration rose by 33 ppb, and the number of exceedances of the 1-hour air quality standard increased about 2.85 times. A comparison of the daily maximum 8-hour average ozone concentration and the number of exceedance days showed that while the Base Scenario had a daily average of 38.7 ppb and 7 exceedance days, the Temp Up & Emission Reduction Scenario had an average of 52.8 ppb and 12 exceedance days. Notably, the average ozone concentration during exceedances of the daily maximum 8-hour standard also increased from 72.1 ppb to 77.2 ppb. This indicates that temperature rise promotes an increase in ozone concentration in diurnal variation, leading to higher exposure levels. It suggests a continued increase in health risks due to exposure to high ozone concentrations. An analysis of the effect of temperature change under the same emission reduction conditions of the air quality policy also showed increases in average and maximum ozone concentrations and exceedance frequency, indicating that temperature rise can partially offset the effects of the policy. This study has limitations such as the unavailability of detailed government implementation plans, regional limitation to Seoul, and a relatively conservative assumption of temperature rise, and additional quantitative analysis on temperature sensitivity is needed. Nevertheless, by integrating and analyzing the quantitative interaction between climate change scenarios and air quality policies, this study has academic and policy significance in that it provides a scientific basis for future policy design that integrates climate change response and air quality improvement. Furthermore, this study highlights the need for an integrated climate-air policy to simultaneously achieve greenhouse gas reduction and air quality improvement.