Future projection of ozone-related mortality under SSP3-7.0 scenario based on CMIP6 simulations

Long-term exposure to ambient ozone is linked with respiratory-related mortality, while the emerging climate change is projected to pose double-edged challenges for ozone air quality. Here, we calculate the impact of emissions- and climate-change under SSP3-7.0 scenario on ozone-related mortality on a global scale, using historical (experiment histSST) and future simulations (experiments ssp370SST and ssp370pdSST) from three CMIP6 Earth System Models (ESMs) (GFDL-ESM4, EC-Earth3-AerChem, and UKESM1-0-LL). The ssp370SST experiment follows time-varying SSTs, while the SSP370pdSST follows a present-day climatology for SSTs. The chronic obstructive pulmonary disease mortality attributable to ozone pollution is estimated following the Global Burden Disease (GBD) 2019 approach, by using the ozone season daily maximum 8-hour mixing ratio (OSDMA8), the baseline mortality rate (from the GBD), and the SSP3-7.0 present and future gridded population. An increase in ozone-related mortality of approximately 2.5 million people per year globally is projected at the end of the century (2090) with respect to 2000 due to emissions and population changes. The climate-change footprint on ozone-related mortality exhibits large variability among the ESMs; yet, over India and China all ESMs project an increase of ozone-related mortality in the future, highlighting the importance of the ozone penalty due to global warming in regions with strong anthropogenic sources.