Dataset Information

The spatiotemporal characteristics of the air pollutants in China from 2015 to 2019.

ABSTRACT: China's rapid industrialization and urbanization have led to poor air quality, and air pollution has caused great concern among the Chinese public. Most analyses of air pollution trends in China are based on model simulations or satellite data. Studies using field observation data and focusing on the latest data from environmental monitoring stations covering the whole country to assess the latest trends of different pollutants in different regions are relatively rare. The State Council of China promulgated the toughest-ever Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (Action Plan) in 2013. This led to a major improvement in air quality. We use the hourly Air Quality Index (AQI) and mass concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, CO, NO2, O3, and SO2 in 362 cities from 2015 to 2019, obtained from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, to study their temporal and spatial changes and assess the effectiveness of the policy on the atmospheric environment since its promulgation and implementation. We found that the national and regional air quality in China continues to improve, with PM2.5, PM10, AQI, CO, and SO2 exhibiting negative trends. However, O3 and NO2 pollution is an urgent problem that needs to be solved and the current control strategy for PM2.5 will only partially reduce the PM2.5 pollution in the western region. Although the implementation of "Action Plan" measures has effectively improved air quality, China's air pollution is still serious and far from the WHO standard. Implementing measures for continuous and effective emissions control is still a top priority.

SUBMITTER: Guo P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7444542 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The spatiotemporal characteristics of the air pollutants in China from 2015 to 2019.

Guo Peng P Umarova Aminat Batalbievna AB Luan Yunqi Y

PloS one 20200821 8

China's rapid industrialization and urbanization have led to poor air quality, and air pollution has caused great concern among the Chinese public. Most analyses of air pollution trends in China are based on model simulations or satellite data. Studies using field observation data and focusing on the latest data from environmental monitoring stations covering the whole country to assess the latest trends of different pollutants in different regions are relatively rare. The State Council of China ...[more]

PMID: 32822345

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Project description:Spatiotemporal behaviors of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) and trace gases (SO2, NO2, CO, and O3) in Hefei during the period from December 2013 to November 2015 are investigated. The mean annual PM2.5 (PM10) concentrations are 89.1 ± 59.4 µg/m3 (118.9 ± 66.8 µg/m3) and 61.6 ± 32.2 µg/m3 (91.3 ± 40.9 µg/m3) during 2014 and 2015, respectively, remarkably exceeding the Chinese Ambient Air Quality Standards (CAAQS) grade II. All trace gases basically meet the requirements though NO2 and O3 have a certain upward trend. Old districts have the highest pollution levels, followed by urban periphery sites and new districts. Severe haze pollution occurs in Hefei, with frequent exceedances in particulate matter with 178 (91) days in 2014 (2015). The abnormal PM2.5 concentrations in June 2014 attributed to agricultural biomass burning from moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometry (MODIS) wildfire maps and aerosol optical depth (AOD) analysis. PM2.5 is recognized as the major pollutant, and a longer interspecies relationship is found between PM2.5 and other criteria pollutants for episode days as compared to non-episode days. The air pollution in Hefei tends to be influenced by local primary emissions, secondary formation, and regional transport from adjacent cities and remote regions. Most areas of Anhui, southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang, and western Shandong are identified as the common high-potential source regions of PM2.5. Approximately 9.44 and 8.53 thousand premature mortalities are attributed to PM2.5 exposure in 2014 and 2015. The mortality benefits will be 32% (24%), 47% (41%), 70% (67%), and 85% (83%) of the total premature mortalities in 2014 (2015) when PM2.5 concentrations meet the CAAQS grade II, the World Health Organization (WHO) IT-2, IT-3, and Air Quality Guideline, respectively. Hence, joint pollution prevention and control measures need to be strengthened due to pollutant regional diffusion, and much higher health benefits could be achieved as the Hefei government adopts more stringent WHO guidelines for PM2.5.

Project description:Recently released hourly particular matter (PM:PM2.5 and PM10) and gaseous pollutants (SO2, NO2, CO, and O3) data observed in Qingdao, Hangzhou, and Xiamen from 2015 to 2019 were utilized to reveal the current situation of air pollution over eastern coastal China. The PM pollution situation over the three metropolises ameliorated during studied period with the concentrations decreasing about 20-30%. Gas pollutants, excepting SO2, generally exhibit no evident reduction tendencies, and a more rigorous control standard on gaseous pollutants is neededEven for the year 2018 with low pollution levels among the study period, these levels (<10% of PM2.5, <6% of PM10, and <15% of O3) surpass the Grade II of the Chinese Ambient Air Quality Standard (CAAQS) over these metropolises of eastern coast China. No matter in which year, both SO2 and CO concentrations are always below the Grade-II standards. According to the comparative analysis of PM2.5/PM10 and PM2.5/CO during episode days and non-episode days, the formation of secondary aerosols associated with stagnant weather systems play an important role in the pollutant accumulation as haze episodes occurred. The stronger seasonal variations and higher magnitude occur in Qingdao and Hangzhou, while weaker seasonal variations and lower magnitudes occur in Xiamen. In Qingdao and Hangzhou, PM, NO2, SO2, and CO show relatively high levels in the cold wintertime and low levels in summer, whereas O3 shows a completely opposite pattern. Xiamen exhibits high levels of all air pollutants except O3 in spring due to its subtropical marine monsoon climate with mild winters. According to the back trajectory hierarchical clustering and concentration weighted trajectory (CWT) analysis, the regional transmission from adjacent cities has a significant impact on the atmospheric pollutant concentrations under the control of the prejudiced winds. Thus, besides local emission reduction, strengthening regional environmental cooperation and implementing joint prevention are effective measures to mitigate air pollution in the eastern coastal areas of China.

Dataset Information

The spatiotemporal characteristics of the air pollutants in China from 2015 to 2019.

Publications

The spatiotemporal characteristics of the air pollutants in China from 2015 to 2019.

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