Yadav, Rekha and Beig, Gufran and Kripalani, R
(2026)
Air quality in flux: The baffling ENSO transition in India.
Atmospheric Pollution Research, 17 (11).
Full text not available from this repository.
| Abstract: |
Air pollution is a major environmental and public-health crisis in India, driven largely by anthropogenic emissions. Yet, winter PM2.5 during 2022–2024 exhibited an unusual and largely unexplained variability of up to ±70% within a year, with contrasting responses across two climatic zones despite no significant change in emissions. We investigate this anomaly through the transition from the exceptional triple-dip La Niña of 2022–23, first of the century, to the another unusually short-lived El Niño of 2023–24, which produced markedly different atmospheric circulation footprints from those observed over the preceding two decades. We demonstrate that these two atypical ENSO phases altered regional transport pathways and weather regimes, producing contrasting PM2.5 responses—from enhanced dispersion in one year to near-stagnation in another—and contrasting relationships between sea-surface temperature, local winds, and pollutant levels. Statistical analysis of key meteorological drivers with PM2.5 distribution further substantiates this linkage. While it is premature to attribute these unusual responses in these two ENSO periods, directly to climate change, their emergence raises an important question: are increasingly erratic climate–atmosphere interactions beginning to disrupt the established behaviour of air pollution? The findings underscore the need for a unified, climate-smart framework that integrates weather, air quality, and climate dynamics into pollution assessment and mitigation. |
| Item Type: |
Journal Paper
|
| Keywords: |
Air quality; PM2.5; El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO); Climate change; Wind anomalies; Decadal trend |
| Subjects: |
School of Natural and Engineering Sciences > Environment
School of Natural and Engineering Sciences > Energy and Environment |
| Divisions: |
Schools > Natural Sciences and Engineering |
| Date Deposited: |
27 Oct 2026 05:56 |
| Last Modified: |
27 Oct 2026 05:56 |
| Official URL: |
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/... |
| Related URLs: |
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| Funders: |
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| Projects: |
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| DOI: |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apr.2026.103231 |
| URI: |
http://eprints.nias.res.in/id/eprint/3494 |
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