Abstract
Biomass burning aerosols reaching the stratosphere (SBBA) present an emerging yet understudied threat to Arctic ozone (O3). Previous work focuses primarily on SBBA-induced heterogeneous chemistry, while their dynamical effects–altering temperature and circulation–have received less attention. Here, we assess both the chemical and dynamical impacts of SBBA over the Arctic during 2019–2020, a period marked by unusually high SBBA loading and O3 depletion. With satellite-constrained modelling, we show that SBBA cause a net increase in Arctic O3, compensating for 19% of the observed depletion in spring 2020. Dynamical processes dominate this effect via stratospheric heating and enhanced poleward O3 transport. We link this SBBA event to a confluence of northward fire activities and an anomalous polar cyclonic system. Given projected increases in boreal fires and their northward extension, our findings highlight the critical need to integrate both chemical and dynamical SBBA effects to accurately assess O3 budget and its consequences in a changing climate.
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Data availability
The CALIOP aerosol profile data are available at https://asdc.larc.nasa.gov/project/CALIPSO. OMPS observations can be accessed at https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/data/instruments/omps. MLS data are available from https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/data/instruments/mls. MODIS observations can be accessed at https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/dataprod/mod08.php. SWOOSH data can be obtained from https://csl.noaa.gov/groups/csl8/swoosh/. MERRA2 data can be downloaded from https://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gmao-products/merra-2, TROPESS reanalysis data are available at https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/. ERA5 data are accessed from https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/. Fire radiative power from GFAS is available at https://ads.atmosphere.copernicus.eu/datasets/cams-global-fire-emissions-gfas?tab=download. The GFED emissions can be accessed from https://www.globalfiredata.org/data.html. The boundary files can be accessed from https://www.naturalearthdata.com/. The CESM2 data generated in this study have been deposited in Figshare: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30984097. Source data are provided with this paper.
Code availability
The original CESM2 model code is available from https://www.cesm.ucar.edu/models/cesm2. The code for the updated stratospheric chemistry scheme used in this study can be found at Figshare: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30984097.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC 42477392), the NSFC Excellent Young Scientists Fund Program (Overseas), and the Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Disciplines Breakthrough Plan of the Ministry of Education of China (JYB2025XDXM909). The CESM2 simulations were carried out at the National Supercomputer Center in Tianjin, and the calculations were performed on the Tianhe new generation supercomputer. The contribution of SV was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) through a Consolidator grant under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant no. 101000987). We acknowledge the valuable suggestions from Prof. Nick Schutgens (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) and Prof. Guido van der Werf (Wageningen University & Research).
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Q.Z. designed this study, performed the model experiments of CESM2, conducted the data analysis, and wrote the initial manuscript. S.V. provided important aspects of boreal fire dynamics. P.Y. offered advice on stratospheric chemistry. J.M. and S.T. provided scientific advice and valuable comments on the atmospheric dynamics. All authors contributed to the review and improvement of the final version of the manuscript.
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Zhong, Q., Veraverbeke, S., Yu, P. et al. Stratospheric biomass burning aerosols compensate record-breaking ozone depletion over the Arctic in spring 2020. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69728-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69728-y
