Welcome to the Tai Group for Atmosphere-Biosphere Interactions (TGABI). Our research aims to address the pressing issues of air pollution, climate change, food insecurity and ecosystem degradation by better understanding the complex interactions between atmospheric chemistry, climate, land surface and the biosphere. Combining high-performance Earth system modeling with multivariate statistical analysis of global observations, we examine such issues as:

• How would boundary-layer meteorology and air quality be influenced by changes in climate, vegetaton, land use and agricultural practices?
• How would climate change and air pollution interfere with food production and forest productivity?
• Can we devise sustainable strategies for joint air quality, forest and agricultural management to mitigate the imminent planetary health crisis?

Please visit the Research page for more details.

Amos P. K. Tai [CV]
Associate Professor, Earth System Science Programme, Faculty of Science
Associate Director, Office of University General Education
Associate Director, Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Education
• Ph.D., Environmental Science and Engineering, Harvard University
• B.Sc., Environmental Engineering Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Research Interests
• Atmospheric chemistry and physics
• Air pollution, agricultural and forest meteorology
• Biosphere-atmosphere interactions and ecoclimatology
• Sustainable food systems and forestry under climate change

• Amos was interviewed by the Communications and Public Relations Office at CUHK on his experience and thoughts on grassroots sustainability and environmental education. [article] (Jul 2022)

• Latest study published in Environmental Research Letters on "CO₂ fertilization of crops offsets yield losses due to future surface ozone damage and climate change". [press release] (Jun 2022)

• Amos wrote an article on climate justice for Christian Times. [article] (Apr 2022)

• Latest study published in Biogeosciences on "Influence of plant ecophysiology on ozone dry deposition: Comparing between multiplicative and photosynthesis-based dry deposition schemes and their responses to rising CO₂ level". (Mar 2022)

• Latest study published in Biogeosciences on "Modeling the interinfluence of fertilizer-induced NH₃ emission, nitrogen deposition, and aerosol radiative effects using modified CESM2". (Mar 2022)

• Latest study published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics on "Effects of ozone-vegetation interactions on meteorology and air quality in China using a two-way coupled land-atmosphere model". (Jan 2022)

• Amos was interviewed on a YouTube program, Times Lookout, by Dr. Chi Keung Yam on climate justice and meat consumption. [video] (Jan 2022)

• Latest study published in Nature Food on "Dietary shifts can reduce premature deaths related to particulate matter pollution in China". [press release] [selected news 1] [selected news 2] (Dec 2021)

• Amos delivered a talk titled "What should we have for dinner? Reading The Omnivore's Dilemma to reconnect humans with food and nature" for the CUHK Book Club. [video] (Dec 2021)

• Latest study published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics on "Responses of surface ozone to future agricultural ammonia emissions and subsequent nitrogen deposition through terrestrial ecosystem changes". (Dec 2021)

• Amos delivered a Letter to Hong Kong on Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) Radio 1, where he addressed the urgency of climate change. [article] [full version] (Nov 2021)

• TGABI welcomes new member - Chloe Yuen! (Oct 2021)

• On behalf of the Hong Kong Young Academy of Sciences, Amos delivered a public talk titled "Saving the planet with science and technology" during the InnoCarnival 2021. [video] (Oct 2021)

• TGABI welcomes new members - Jia Mao and Tiangang Yuan! (Aug 2021)

• Amos delivered a public talk titled "Co-benefits of sustainable food production, consumption and trade to mitigate air pollution, climate change and food insecurity" for the CUHK Agrobiotechnology Talk Series. [video] (Jul 2021)

• Latest study published in Atmospheric Environment on "Impacts of climate and land cover variability and trends on springtime East Asian dust emission over 1982–2010: A modeling study". (Apr 2021)

• Latest study published in Forests on "Problems and management of Acacia-dominated urban forests on man-made slopes in a subtropical, high-density city". (Mar 2021)

• Latest study published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems on "Impacts of surface ozone pollution on global crop yields: Comparing different ozone exposure metrics and incorporating co-effects of CO2". (Mar 2021)

• Latest study published in Atmosphere on "Calibration of high-impact short-range quantitative precipitation forecast through frequency-matching techniques". (Feb 2021)

• Latest study published in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology on "Vegetation-heatwave correlations and contrasting energy exchange responses of different vegetation types to summer heatwaves in the Northern Hemisphere during the 1982–2011 period". (Jan 2021)

• TGABI welcomes new member - Kong Ting Chau! (Jan 2021)

• Latest study published in Geoscientific Model Development on "Calibrating soybean parameters in JULES 5.0 from the US-Ne2/3 FLUXNET sites and the SoyFACE-O3 experiment". (Dec 2020)

• Amos appeared as a guest host on TV program Talk Show – Science Night 2019 of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) TV31 to discuss planetary science. (Nov 2020)

• Latest study published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics on "Impacts of future land use and land cover change on mid-21st-century surface ozone air quality: Distinguishing between the biogeophysical and biogeochemical effects". (Oct 2020)

• Amos was interviewed by Greenpeace Hong Kong and CUHK in two featured articles, and contributed to Carbon Brief on food and climate. [article 1] [article 2] [article 3] (Sep 2020)

• Amos appeared as a guest host twice on TV program Talk Show – Science Night 2020 of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) TV31 to discuss paleontology, fossil records, and dinosaurs. [video 1] [video 2] (Sep 2020)

• TGABI welcomes new members - Hemraj Bhattarai, Martin Lee and Avis Wong! (Aug 2020)

• Latest study published in Atmosphere on "Evidence of ozone-induced visible foliar injury in Hong Kong using Phaseolus vulgaris as a bioindicator". [press release] (Mar 2020)

• Amos delivered a public talk titled "Plants breathe: How does it affect weather and air pollution" for the CUHK Faculty of Science Zoom Lectures Series. [video] (Mar 2020)

• Latest study published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics on "Importance of dry deposition parameterization choice in global simulations of surface ozone". (Nov 2019)

• Amos appeared as a guest host on TV program Talk Show – Science Night 2019 of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) TV31 to discuss weather prediction. (Aug 2019)

• TGABI welcomes new members - Donald Tao, Oscar Ma and Leo Ng! (Aug 2019)

• Amos was honored to be elected as a Founding Member of the Hong Kong Young Academy of Sciences, and serve as the Honorary Secretary. He also delivered a lightning talk during the Inauguration Ceremony. [news] [video] (Jun 2019)

• Latest study published in Environmental Research Letters on "Co-benefits of intercropping as a sustainable farming method for safeguarding both food security and air quality". [press release] (Mar 2019)

• Latest study published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics on "Coupling between surface ozone and leaf area index in a chemical transport model: strength of feedback and implications for ozone air quality and vegetation health". (Oct 2018)

• TGABI welcomes new members - Joey Lam, Perry Ma and Nathan Wong! (Aug 2018)

• Amos appeared as a guest on TV program Talk Show – Science Night 2018 of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) TV31 to discuss climate change. (Jul 2018)

• Latest study published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics on "Synoptic meteorological modes of variability for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air quality in major metropolitan regions of China". (May 2018)

• Latest study published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres on "Attribution and statistical parameterization of the sensitivity of surface ozone to changes in leaf area index based on a chemical transport model". (Feb 2018)

• Latest study published in Atmospheric Environment on "Impacts of ozone air pollution and temperature extremes on crop yields: Spatial variability, adaptation and implications for future food security". (Oct 2017)

• TGABI welcomes new members - David Yung and Jiachen Zhu! (Aug 2017)

• Amos hosted the CUHK-WUN Workshop on "Ecosystem-Atmosphere Interactions in Air Quality and Climate Assessment: Modeling and Measurement Strategies". Honorable speakers included Maria Val Martin, Olivier Crespo, Alex Guenther, Laurens Ganzeveld, and Xuemei Wang. Check out their presentations and model exercises (see links)! [Val Martin 1] [Val Martin 2] [Crespo] [Guenther] [Ganzeveld 1] [Ganzeveld 2] [Wang] (Jun 2017)

• Latest study published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics on "Effects of ozone-vegetation coupling on surface ozone air quality via biogeochemical and meteorological feedbacks". (Feb 2017)

• Latest study published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics on "Impacts of historical climate and land cover changes on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air quality in East Asia between 1980 and 2010". (Aug 2016)

• TGABI welcomes new members - Danny Leung, Alan Lim, Shirley Liu, Jacky Pang and Susie Sun! (Aug 2016)

• Latest study published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics on "Impact of climate and land cover changes on tropospheric ozone air quality and public health in East Asia between 1980 and 2010". [press release] (Sep 2015)

• Amos was awarded the 2015 World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Research Award for Young Scientists. [press release] (Sep 2015)

• TGABI welcomes new members - Victor Fung, Anthony Wong and Alice Zhou! (Aug 2015)

• Latest study published in Nature Climate Change on "Threat to future global food security from climate change and ozone air pollution". [press release] (Aug 2014)

• TGABI welcomes its first crop of graduate students, Mehliyar Sadiq and Ray Chow! (Aug 2014)

"The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again." (Ecclesiastes 1:6-7)