Air Pollution and Climate Change: Interactions and Co-mitigation

Air pollution and climate change are two important environmental factors that are tightly interconnected. Changes in climate can impact the physical, chemical, and biological processes associated with air pollution. Conversely, emissions of air pollutants can also result in changes to the climate through their direct and indirect radiative forcing. However, significant uncertainties exist regarding their interactions, and additional insight is needed to better understand the mechanisms and outcomes associated with both. Moreover, greenhouse gases (GHGs) are often co-emitted with air pollutants, thus, synergistic, or combined mitigation efforts could be designed to achieve optimized co-benefits. However, the current literature lacks an understanding of these co-benefits, especially under the framework of public health, social-economic benefits, and environmental justice.

In this Research Topic, we aim to present a collection of original articles and reviews that address the interconnections between these two environmental factors. We also welcome original research that improves our understanding of the co-benefits from synergistic mitigation efforts or develops policy assessment tools that could help policymakers to evaluate and optimize their pathway selections. Topics to be covered include but are not limited to the following:

• Methods to apply possible changes in meteorology or climate factors that affect air pollution, especially on fine particulate matter
• Investigating how air pollutants affect climate such as examining the direct and indirect effect of aerosols on global and regional climate
• Understanding how mitigation options to reduce GHG can affect emissions of air pollutants and subsequently regional air quality
• Assessing the air quality and human health co-benefits that accrue from climate mitigation policy from a social-economic and environmental justice perspective
• Models, tools, and methodologies for assessing and optimizing the co-benefits of air quality and climate mitigation policies.