Impacts of hydrogen on tropospheric ozone and methane and their modulation by atmospheric NOx

Abstract

Atmospheric hydrogen concentrations have been increasing in recent decades. Hydrogen is radiatively inert, but it is chemically reactive and exerts an indirect radiative forcing through chemistry that perturbs the concentrations of key species within the troposphere, including ozone. Using the atmospheric version of the United Kingdom Earth System Model, we analyse the impact of 10% increased surface concentrations of hydrogen on ozone production and loss. We also analyse the impact of this hydrogen in atmospheres with lower anthropogenic emissions of nitrogen oxides (80% and 30% of present-day anthropogenic surface emissions), as this is a likely outcome of the transition from fossil fuels towards cleaner technologies. In each case, we also assess the changes in hydroxyl radical concentration and hence methane lifetime and calculate the net impact on the hydrogen tropospheric global warming potential (GWP). We find that the hydrogen tropospheric GWP100 will change relatively little with decreases in surface anthropogenic NOx emissions (9.4 and 9.1 for our present day and 30% anthropogenic emissions, respectively). The current estimate for hydrogen GWP100 can therefore be applied to future scenarios of differing NOx, although this conclusion may be impacted by future changes in emissions of other reactive species.