CO-BENEFIT OF CLIMATE POLICY IN GLOBAL CROP YIELD CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH TROPOSPHERIC OZONE DECREASES

Abstract

 Crop yields would be affected by tropospheric ozone induced by air pollutants along with climate change. We calculated effects of tropospheric ozone on crop yields based on air pollutants emission scenarios. The results show that an implementation of stringent climate policy reduces future tropospheric ozone and improves global crop yields by 1%. At the meantime, this co-benefit is equivalent to 30% of the direct climate change impacts avoided by the climate policy. Regionally, the improvement rates can be more than three times of the global mean number (e.g. the Middle East, North Africa and Asia). It implies that stringent climate policy would be important in the context of the global sustainable development goals for the regional development.