Analysis of the Air Quality and the Effect of Governance Policies in China’s Pearl River Delta, 2015–2018

The evaluation of China’s air pollution and the effectiveness of its governance policies is currently a topic of general concern in the academic community. We have improved the traditional evaluation method to construct a comprehensive air quality assessment model based on China’s major air pollutants. Using the daily air pollutant data of 2015–2018, we calculated and analyzed the monthly air quality of nine cities in the Pearl River Delta of China, and conducted a comparative study on the effect of the air pollution control policies of the cities in the Pearl River Delta. We found that the air quality control policies in those nine cities were not consistent. Specifically, the pollution control policies of Guangzhou and Foshan have achieved more than 20% improvement. The pollution control policies of Dongguan and Zhaoqing have also achieved more than 10% improvement. However, due to the relative lag of the formulation and implementation of air pollution control policies, the air quality of Jiangmen, Zhuhai and Zhongshan has declined. Based on the analysis of the air quality assessment results and the effects of governance policies in each city during the study period, we propose suggestions for further improvement of the effectiveness of air pollution control policies in the region.

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Emission Inventories and Particulate Matter Air Quality Modeling over the Pearl River Delta Region

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18084155 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (8) ◽

pp. 4155

Author(s):

Diogo Lopes ◽

Joana Ferreira ◽

Ka In Hoi ◽

Ka-Veng Yuen ◽

Kai Meng Mok ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Pearl River Delta ◽

Air Quality Modeling ◽

Pearl River ◽

Emission Inventories ◽

Atmospheric Emission ◽

The Pearl River Delta ◽

Quality Modeling ◽

The Pearl River

The Pearl River Delta (PRD) region is located on the southeast coast of mainland China and it is an important economic hub. The high levels of particulate matter (PM) in the atmosphere, however, and poor visibility have become a complex environmental problem for the region. Air quality modeling systems are useful to understand the temporal and spatial distribution of air pollution, making use of atmospheric emission data as inputs. Over the years, several atmospheric emission inventories have been developed for the Asia region. The main purpose of this work is to evaluate the performance of the air quality modeling system for simulating PM concentrations over the PRD using three atmospheric emission inventories (i.e., EDGAR, REAS and MIX) during a winter and a summer period. In general, there is a tendency to underestimate PM levels, but results based on the EDGAR emission inventory show slightly better accuracy. However, improvements in the spatial and temporal disaggregation of emissions are still needed to properly represent PRD air quality. This study’s comparison of the three emission inventories’ data, as well as their PM simulating outcomes, generates recommendations for future improvements to atmospheric emission inventories and our understanding of air pollution problems in the PRD region.

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Assessing the impacts of seasonal and vertical atmospheric conditions on air quality over the Pearl River Delta region

Atmospheric Environment ◽

10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.02.039 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 180 ◽

pp. 69-78 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Cheuk Hei Marcus Tong ◽

Steve Hung Lam Yim ◽

Daniel Rothenberg ◽

Chien Wang ◽

Chuan-Yao Lin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Pearl River Delta ◽

River Delta ◽

Pearl River ◽

Atmospheric Conditions ◽

Pearl River Delta Region ◽

Delta Region ◽

The Pearl River Delta ◽

The Pearl River

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Evaluation and Treatment Analysis of Air Quality Including Particulate Pollutants: A Case Study of Shandong Province, China

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17249476 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (24) ◽

pp. 9476

Author(s):

Bowen Jiang ◽

Yuangang Li ◽

Weixin Yang

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Pollution Control ◽

Forecast Model ◽

Maximum Error ◽

Shandong Province ◽

Air Pollution Control ◽

Control Policies ◽

Pm2.5 And Pm10

At present, China’s air pollution and its treatment effect are issues of general concern in the academic circles. Based on the analysis of the development stages of air pollution in China and the development history of China’s air quality standards, we selected 17 cities of Shandong Province, China as the research objects. By expanding China’s existing Air Quality Index System, the air quality of six major pollutants including PM2.5 and PM10 in 17 cities from February 2017 to January 2020 is comprehensively evaluated. Then, with a forecast model, the air quality of the above cities in the absence of air pollution control policies since June 2018 was simulated. The results of the error test show that the model has a maximum error of 4.67% when simulating monthly assessment scores, and the maximum mean error of the four months is 3.17%. Through the comparison between the simulation results and the real evaluation results of air quality, we found that since June 2018, the air pollution control policies of six cities have achieved more than 10% improvement, while the air quality of the other 11 cities declined. The different characteristics of pollutants and the implementation of governance policies are perhaps the main reasons for the above differences. Finally, policy recommendations for the future air pollution control in Shandong and China were provided.

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