On June 5, World Environment Day, the China Ecological and Environmental Science and Technology Industry-University-Research Consortium released the 2024 list of China's Top Ten Ecological and Environmental Science and Technology Advances. The research achievement "Evolution Patterns and Regulatory Principles of Key Atmospheric Components under Climate Change," led by the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering of Peking University, was selected (in the Knowledge Innovation category).

Primary Completing Institutions:Peking University, Nanjing University, Sichuan Provincial Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center

Primary Completers: Qi Chen (Peking University), Xin Li (Peking University), Yue Qin (Peking University), Wenjie Wang (Peking University), Xin Huang (Nanjing University), Ruqian Miao (Peking University), Wei Zhang (Sichuan Provincial Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center)

Human activities have triggered drastic changes in atmospheric composition, resulting in air pollution that influences weather and climate patterns. Among these components, organic compounds are the most complex, as thousands of organic molecules undergo multiphase physicochemical processes in the atmosphere to form key secondary pollutants such as organic aerosols and ozone. These pollutants pose risks to human and ecosystem health, alter radiation balance and convective conditions, and subsequently affect the potential and stability of renewable energy resources. The high complexity of organic compound emissions and atmospheric evolution processes presents significant technical challenges for their precise scientific control, making this a critical bottleneck that severely hinders continuous air quality improvement under climate change. There is an urgent need to enhance scientific understanding of the evolution mechanisms and climatic-environmental effects of secondary pollution.

By integrating long-term field observations, emission inventory development, and atmospheric chemical modeling, the project team significantly improved the simulation accuracy of atmospheric oxidation capacity and secondary pollutants in chemical models. The team also developed a comprehensive assessment model with online coupled meteorology-chemistry interactions, which clarified the long-term evolution characteristics and driving factors of organic aerosols and ozone in China. This work revealed the co-benefits of pollution reduction under two-way meteorology-chemistry feedback and subsequently proposed a feasible framework for secondary pollution control. The research holds significant importance for enhancing pollution prevention capabilities, protecting public health, and advancing the dual-carbon goals.

Research findings from the project were published in 2024 in top-tier journals including Nature Geoscience, Nature Communications, Nature Climate Change, and National Science Review, generating extensive academic influence. These achievements have been directly applied in the "Integrated Sky-Ground Atmospheric Traceability and Prevention Platform" in China's key air pollution control region—the Chengdu Plain area, providing scientific and technological support for air pollution prevention and control in major cities such as Deyang and Mianyang, with remarkable results achieved.

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The selection of China's Top Ten Ecological and Environmental Science and Technology Advances of 2024 was based on recommendations from academicians of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, member institutions of the consortium, as well as universities and research institutes. The final list was determined through evaluation and voting by a selection committee composed of 14 academicians. This marks the sixth consecutive year of the initiative. The selected advances for 2024 reflect cutting-edge developments in China's ecological and environmental science and technology fields. This initiative plays a positive role in guiding technological innovation within the ecological and environmental sector, encouraging scientific research in this field, raising public environmental awareness, and fostering an innovation-oriented social atmosphere. It provides scientific and technological support for China's ecological environmental protection and ecological civilization construction, carrying profound impact and great significance.