Environment International (Nov 2021)
The state of science on severe air pollution episodes: Quantitative and qualitative analysis
- Lidia Morawska,
- Tong Zhu,
- Nairui Liu,
- Mehdi Amouei Torkmahalleh,
- Maria de Fatima Andrade,
- Benjamin Barratt,
- Parya Broomandi,
- Giorgio Buonanno,
- Luis Carlos Belalcazar Ceron,
- Jianmin Chen,
- Yan Cheng,
- Greg Evans,
- Mario Gavidia,
- Hai Guo,
- Ivan Hanigan,
- Min Hu,
- Cheol H. Jeong,
- Frank Kelly,
- Laura Gallardo,
- Prashant Kumar,
- Xiaopu Lyu,
- Benjamin J. Mullins,
- Claus Nordstrøm,
- Gavin Pereira,
- Xavier Querol,
- Nestor Yezid Rojas Roa,
- Armistead Russell,
- Helen Thompson,
- Hao Wang,
- Lina Wang,
- Tao Wang,
- Aneta Wierzbicka,
- Tao Xue,
- Celine Ye
Affiliations
- Lidia Morawska
- International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Faculty of Science, Queensland University Technology, 2 George Street, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia; Global Centre for Clean Air Research, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom; Corresponding author.
- Tong Zhu
- College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China; Corresponding author.
- Nairui Liu
- International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Faculty of Science, Queensland University Technology, 2 George Street, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
- Mehdi Amouei Torkmahalleh
- Chemical and Aerosol Research Team, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan; The Environment and Resource Efficiency Cluster, Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan
- Maria de Fatima Andrade
- Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences (IAG), University of Sao Paulo (USP), Brazil
- Benjamin Barratt
- Department of Environmental Health, King’s College London, United Kingdom
- Parya Broomandi
- Chemical and Aerosol Research Team, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan; School of Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Masjed Soleiman Branch, Iran
- Giorgio Buonanno
- International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Faculty of Science, Queensland University Technology, 2 George Street, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia; University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Cassino, Italy
- Luis Carlos Belalcazar Ceron
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia
- Jianmin Chen
- Environmental Science & Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Yan Cheng
- School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China
- Greg Evans
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Canada
- Mario Gavidia
- Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences (IAG), University of Sao Paulo (USP), Brazil
- Hai Guo
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
- Ivan Hanigan
- The University of Sydney, University Centre for Rural Health, School of Public Health, New South Wales, Australia; Corresponding author.
- Min Hu
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Cheol H. Jeong
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Canada
- Frank Kelly
- Department of Environmental Health, King’s College London, United Kingdom
- Laura Gallardo
- Center for Climate and Resilience Research (CR2) and Departamento de Geofísica, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Chile
- Prashant Kumar
- Global Centre for Clean Air Research, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom
- Xiaopu Lyu
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
- Benjamin J. Mullins
- School of Public Health, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- Claus Nordstrøm
- Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Denmark
- Gavin Pereira
- School of Public Health, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- Xavier Querol
- Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
- Nestor Yezid Rojas Roa
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia
- Armistead Russell
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Helen Thompson
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
- Hao Wang
- Institute for Environmental and Climate Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- Lina Wang
- Environmental Science & Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Tao Wang
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
- Aneta Wierzbicka
- Division of Ergonomics and Aerosol Technology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Tao Xue
- College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Celine Ye
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 156
p. 106732
Abstract
Severe episodic air pollution blankets entire cities and regions and have a profound impact on humans and their activities. We compiled daily fine particle (PM2.5) data from 100 cities in five continents, investigated the trends of number, frequency, and duration of pollution episodes, and compared these with the baseline trend in air pollution. We showed that the factors contributing to these events are complex; however, long-term measures to abate emissions from all anthropogenic sources at all times is also the most efficient way to reduce the occurrence of severe air pollution events. In the short term, accurate forecasting systems of such events based on the meteorological conditions favouring their occurrence, together with effective emergency mitigation of anthropogenic sources, may lessen their magnitude and/or duration. However, there is no clear way of preventing events caused by natural sources affected by climate change, such as wildfires and desert dust outbreaks.
