Linking local air pollution to global chemistry and climate

Mayer, Monika; Wang, Chien.; Webster, Mort; Prinn, Ronald G.

doi:10.1029/2000jd900307

Cited by 74 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(13 reference statements)

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“…27a PM is often reported as mass concentration in the total suspended particulates (TSP), PM 10 , and PM 2.5 (particles with aerodynamic diameters of less than ϳ40, 10, and 2.5 m, respectively). 27,28 As shown in Table 2, the highest TSP and SO 2 levels appear mostly in Asian cities. These data are limited to cities that measure and report pollutant concentrations.…”

Section: Air Pollution In Megacitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is now clear that the gaseous pollutants and fine particles dispersed from heavily polluted regions may have significant impacts on continental to global scales. 28,117 However, to date, relatively few measurements have been carried out on the polluted outflow from megacities in tropical and subtropical latitudes. Given the high growth rates and rapid industrialization and motorization of these megacities of the developing world, 27 it is likely that regional and even intercontinental transport of pollutants at low latitudes will grow rapidly, posing an even greater challenge.…”

Section: Global Pollutant Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Megacities and Atmospheric Pollution

Molina

2004

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

676

372

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About half of the world's population now lives in urban areas because of the opportunity for a better quality of life. Many of these urban centers are expanding rapidly, leading to the growth of megacities, which are defined as metropolitan areas with populations exceeding 10 million inhabitants. These concentrations of people and activity are exerting increasing stress on the natural environment, with impacts at urban, regional and global levels. In recent decades, air pollution has become one of the most important problems of megacities. Initially, the main air pollutants of concern were sulfur compounds, which were generated mostly by burning coal. Today, photochemical smog-induced primarily from traffic, but also from industrial activities, power generation, and solvents-has become the main source of concern for air quality, while sulfur is still a major problem in many cities of the developing world. Air pollution has serious impacts on public health, causes urban and regional haze, and has the potential to contribute significantly to climate change. Yet, with appropriate planning, megacities can efficiently address their air quality problems through measures such as application of new emission control technologies and development of mass transit systems.This review is focused on nine urban centers, chosen as case studies to assess air quality from distinct perspectives: from cities in the industrialized nations to cities in the developing world. While each city-its problems, resources, and outlook-is unique, the need for a holistic approach to the complex environmental problems is the same. There is no single strategy in reducing air pollution in megacities; a mix of policy measures will be needed to improve air quality. Experience shows that strong political will coupled with public dialog is essential to effectively implement the regulations required to address air quality problems.

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Section: Air Pollution In Megacitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Global Pollutant Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Megacities and Atmospheric Pollution

Molina

2004

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

676

372

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“…Also, the atmospheric life cycles of air pollutants, such as CO, NO x , and volatile organic compounds, as well as some climatically important species (e.g., CH 4 , sulfate aerosols) are closely linked (23, 24) (SI Text 6). To help unravel the interactions and assess the effects of air pollution on ecosystems and human health, emissions in urban areas are input into an urban-scale air chemistry module, whereas those outside urban areas are input into the global model (17,18,23,24). Failure to simulate the chemical reactions occurring in large cities leads to significant overestimation of global aerosol levels (24) and tropospheric NO x and ozone concentrations (23,25).…”

Section: Integrated Global System Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and application of earth system models

Prinn

2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The global environment is a complex and dynamic system. Earth system modeling is needed to help understand changes in interacting subsystems, elucidate the influence of human activities, and explore possible future changes. Integrated assessment of environment and human development is arguably the most difficult and most important "systems" problem faced. To illustrate this approach, we present results from the integrated global system model (IGSM), which consists of coupled submodels addressing economic development, atmospheric chemistry, climate dynamics, and ecosystem processes. An uncertainty analysis implies that without mitigation policies, the global average surface temperature may rise between 3.5°C and 7.4°C from 1981-2000 to 2091-2100 (90% confidence limits). Polar temperatures, absent policy, are projected to rise from about 6.4°C to 14°C (90% confidence limits). Similar analysis of four increasingly stringent climate mitigation policy cases involving stabilization of greenhouse gases at various levels indicates that the greatest effect of these policies is to lower the probability of extreme changes. The IGSM is also used to elucidate potential unintended environmental consequences of renewable energy at large scales. There are significant reasons for attention to climate adaptation in addition to climate mitigation that earth system models can help inform. These models can also be applied to evaluate whether "climate engineering" is a viable option or a dangerous diversion. We must prepare young people to address this issue: The problem of preserving a habitable planet will engage present and future generations. Scientists must improve communication if research is to inform the public and policy makers better.climate change | energy and environment | climate policy A wide range of everyday human activity affects our environment: food production, transportation, manufacturing, urban development, population growth, supplying potable water, and waste disposal. The environmental effects include climate change, urban air pollution, lowered water quality, land degradation, ecosystem disruption, and human health. The climate issue exemplifies the challenge for sustaining a habitable earth. To forecast climate change and develop sound responses, we need to couple the human and natural components of the earth system. Such integrated assessments have many additional potential benefits: discovery of new interactions among natural and human climate system components, objective assessment of uncertainty in economic and climate projections, critical and quantitative analysis of policy proposals, and understanding connections to other science and policy issues (e.g., air pollution). Today, there are very significant policy debates regarding global climate change within most nations, contentious negotiations under the Framework Convention on Climate Change, and periodic assessments under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (1-3).Over the past 2 centuries, the concentrations of carbon dioxide and ma...

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“…The only previous study of the effects of urban emissions on global air quality [8] included a parameterisation of polluted urban environments in a two-dimensional global model of background atmospheric chemistry. The focus of this previous work was not specifically on the effects of megacities, but rather on urban emissions in general.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of megacities on global atmospheric chemistry: a modelling study

Butler

Lawrence

2009

Environ. Chem.

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Environmental context. Over half of the population of the world now live in urban areas, and the number of so-called 'megacities', with populations of ∼10 million or more, is growing at a tremendous rate. We show how these patterns of urbanisation have the potential to influence the atmospheric chemical environment on a global scale, particularly through the effects of emissions from megacities on the reactive nitrogen cycle. With the growing worldwide interest in the study of the effects of megacities at all spatial scales, such as current European Union projects MEGAPOLI and CityZen, our study represents the first of many future studies that examine the effects of megacities on atmospheric chemistry on the global scale.Abstract. We present the first study of the effects of megacities on global atmospheric chemistry using a global threedimensional chemical transport model. The effects on air quality, radiative forcing and atmospheric oxidation capacity are disproportionately smaller than the proportion of anthropogenic emissions due to megacities. Disproportionately large effects of megacities are modelled for reactive nitrogen compounds, in particular PAN (peroxy acetyl nitrate), which has increased in abundance globally by 9% due to megacities under year 2000 conditions, with 23% of the Earth experiencing an increase of 10% or more. These influences decrease under two very different future emission scenarios. Under a low-emission future scenario, the influence of megacities is generally reduced, and under a high-emission future scenario, although the local influence of megacities is increased, the geographical extent of the influence becomes smaller. In our model, the individual grid cells that contain megacities respond to the megacity emissions differently depending on their latitude. Tropical megacity grid cells generally show increased ozone year-round, while northern extratropical megacities generally show reduced ozone year-round. Better parameterisation of the sub-grid effects of megacities is an important issue for future work.

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Linking local air pollution to global chemistry and climate

Cited by 74 publications

References 38 publications

Megacities and Atmospheric Pollution

Megacities and Atmospheric Pollution

Development and application of earth system models

The influence of megacities on global atmospheric chemistry: a modelling study

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