A global perspective on national climate mitigation priorities in the context of air pollution and sustainable development

BackgroundAir pollution in China has raised great concerns due to its adverse effects on air quality, human health, and climate. Emissions of air pollutants (APs) are inherently linked with CO2 emissions through fossil-energy consumption. Knowledge of the characteristics of APs and CO2 emissions and their relationships is fundamentally important in the pursuit of co-benefits in addressing air quality and climate issues in China. However, the linkages and interactions between APs and CO2 in China are not well understood.ResultsHere, we conducted an ensemble study of six bottom-up inventories to identify the underlying drivers of APs and CO2 emissions growth and to explore their linkages in China. The results showed that, during 1980–2015, the power and industry sectors contributed 61–79% to China’s overall emissions of CO2, NOx, and SO2. In addition, the residential and industrial sectors were large emitters (77–85%) of PM10, PM2.5, CO, BC, and OC. The emissions of CH4, N2O and NH3 were dominated by the agriculture sector (46–82%) during 1980–2015, while the share of CH4 emissions in the energy sector increased since 2010. During 1980–2015, APs and greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions from residential sources generally decreased over time, while the transportation sector increased its impact on recent emissions, particularly for NOx and NMVOC. Since implementation of stringent pollution control measures and accompanying technological improvements in 2013, China has effectively limited pollution emissions (e.g., growth rates of –10% per year for PM and –20% for SO2) and slowed down the increasing trend of carbon emissions from the power and industrial sectors. We also found that areas with high emissions of CO, NOx, NMVOC, and SO2 also emitted large amounts of CO2, which demonstrates the possible common sources of APs and GHGs. Moreover, we found significant correlations between CO2 and APs (e.g., NOx, CO, SO2, and PM) emissions in the top 5% high-emitting grid cells, with more than 60% common grid cells during 2010–2015.ConclusionsWe found significant correlation in spatial and temporal aspects for CO2, and NOx, CO, SO2, and PM emissions in China. We targeted sectorial and spatial APs and GHGs emission hot-spots, which help for management and policy-making of collaborative reductions of them. This comprehensive analysis over 6 datasets improves our understanding of APs and GHGs emissions in China during the period of rapid industrialization from 1980 to 2015. This study helps elucidate the linkages between APs and CO2 from an integrated perspective, and provides insights for future synergistic emissions reduction.

Legislation to cap and trade greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was approved by a 219-212 vote of the United States House of Representatives on June 26, 2009. Cap and trade policy articulated in the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) act of 2009 regulates GHGs including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and nitrogen trifluoride. Debate over the ACES act focused heavily on economic issues contrasted against concerns about climate change1. However, discussion largely ignored the potential for cap and trade legislation to contribute to reductions in levels of other harmful air pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and ozone precursors that share emission sources with GHGs. Under the bill, domestic GHG emissions are to be capped at 2005 annual levels, and reduced to 17% of those marks by 20502. The bill provides for an initial round of pollution permits to be made available, some free, others at auction. Subsequently, these permits can be bought and sold in the open market by organizations such as utility companies and manufacturing firms. A key provision in the ACES act requires the president to impose tariffs on countries that do not implement similar regulations on GHG emissions. While other potentially viable legislation, such as a tax on carbon emissions, has been proposed3, the current cap and trade legislation is the first bill to pass in either the House or Senate. The greenhouse gases regulated under the ACES act do not generally pose serious direct health risks. For example, nitrous oxide is used in dental procedures, and carbon dioxide is an ingredient in carbonated beverages. Other GHGs, like nitrogen trifluoride and sulfur hexafluoride, are not harmful at their current concentration levels, but can be hazardous to persons working with them if safety precautions are not taken. Instead, substantial human health benefits from cap and trade legislation could potentially come from reductions in ambient levels of harmful pollutants, such as particulate matter and ozone, that share emissions sources with GHGs. For example, 94% of CO2 emissions in the US result from combustion of fossil fuels, with electricity generation and transportation alone comprising nearly 70%. These are also the leading source of sulfur dioxide, fine particles having diameter small than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5), and precursors to ozone such as mono-nitrogen oxides (NOx)4. While the time scale for potential impacts of cap and trade legislation on climate change and related health benefits is likely decades or centuries, ancillary air pollution mitigation could have immediate health benefits. In two nationwide epidemiological studies, daily levels of ambient ozone and PM2.5 have been linked to increased risk of cardiovascular and respiratory mortality5 and to increased risk of emergency hospital admissions, especially for heart failure6, respectively. Estimates of the potential health benefits attributable to reductions in harmful air pollutants resulting from mitigation of GHG emissions, at the city, region and national, have been substantial7. While US cap and trade legislation would likely reduce domestic air pollution levels, two caveats deserve consideration. First, methods for reducing GHG emissions typically reduce air pollution levels, but not always. This problem can be highlighted using airplanes as an example8. Two methods to reduce CO2 emissions from airplanes are to decrease aircraft weight or increase engine combustion temperatures. The former reduces both GHG and air pollution emissions, whereas the later reduces GHG emissions at the cost of increasing precursors to ozone. In the broader context of energy production, it is likely cap and trade legislation would drive a shift away from fossil fuel combustion to sources such as solar technology that produce much less air pollution. However, the exact technology development path is still uncertain. A second problem is the potential for domestic cap and trade legislation to transfer US emissions to newly industrialized nations. Countries facing lower production costs associated with looser regulations on GHG emissions would have an economic advantage over manufacturing industries in the US. However, increased air pollution from new manufacturing could be a key public health issue for developing regions, such as China's Pearl River delta, where air pollution levels are already much higher than standards in the US9. The economic and physical systems that would be affected by cap and trade legislation are extremely complex, and impacts on air pollution will have to be considered in a broad context. For example, while the absence of tariffs would likely push manufacturing, air pollution and related negative health effects to developing regions, those regions might experience health benefits associated with increased per capita income. The discussion is similarly complex in the physical domain. For example, some air pollutants, such as sulfate particulate matter, can contribute to short term climate cooling. Though still somewhat unclear, there is an emerging debate over the possibility that air pollution mitigation could actually exacerbate global warming in the short term10. While it faces potentially significant opposition and alteration in the Senate, the cap and trade bill recently passed in the House has progressed further through Congress than any other similar legislation. There is tremendous potential for legislation regulating GHG emissions, via cap and trade or other strategies, to simultaneously decrease emissions of harmful air pollutants and reduce morbidity and mortality attributable to cardiovascular and respiratory illness. Such improvements in public health have been linked to economic benefits from recovered workforce productivity8, and add important support for progress on cap and trade legislation versus delayed action.

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IIt has been assumed that damage from exposure to tobacco smoke and other particulate air pollutants is imposed primarily on the lungs and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality rates in patients with preexisting lung disease. This is supported by a considerable amount of previous data, such as the mortality data from the December 1952 London smog disaster, which may have caused as many as 12 000 deaths, almost all in patients with preexisting lung disease.1 Total suspended particulate matter (PM) was as high as 3000 μg/m3. Similar patterns of elevated morbidity and mortality rates, primarily in patients with preexisting lung disease, have been documented in other acute episodes of air pollution in the past.2 However, evidence from the past 10 years shows that sudden increases in ambient air pollution can also rapidly raise morbidity and mortality rates in patients with existing cardiovascular disease, as much or more than the rise associated with lung disease. In the present issue of Circulation , Pope and associates3 report interesting new data on the effects on mortality rate of long-term differences, as opposed to sudden transient increases, in levels of air pollution. Data were derived from a large, comprehensive study initiated by the American Cancer Society and linked to cancer prevention. The study involved a large population of subjects enrolled in 1982 from metropolitan centers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Vital status of participants was collected every 2 years for the subsequent 16 years, and a cause of death was identified for 98% of the known fatalities. Metropolitan area of residence was known for each participant, and particle counts of fine particulates were averaged over quarterly intervals throughout the year for each included metropolitan area. A questionnaire provided additional data, allowing for differences in mortality …

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Effects of straw mulching and nitrogen application rates on crop yields, fertilizer use efficiency, and greenhouse gas emissions of summer maize

Energy-related activities are a major contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A growing body of knowledge clearly depicts the links between human activities and climate change. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil and other human activities has released carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other heat-trapping GHG emissions into the atmosphere and thus increased the concentration of atmospheric CO2 emissions. The main human activities that emit CO2 emissions are (1) the combustion of fossil fuels to generate electricity, accounting for about 37% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 31% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2013, (2) the combustion of fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel to transport people and goods, accounting for about 31% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 26% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2013, and (3) industrial processes such as the production and consumption of minerals and chemicals, accounting for about 15% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 12% of total ...

Climate Change and Health: Strengthening the Evidence Base for Policy

In order to explore the effective management measures of increasing yield and reducing non-CO2 greenhouse gas (CH4 and N2O) emission in the cold black soil paddy field, field experiments were carried out.This paper analyzed the impact of straw returning and different irrigation methods on rice field yield, greenhouse gas emissions, global warming potential (GWP) and greenhouse gas emission intensity (GHGI).The results showed that compared with the treatment without straw returning, the yield of straw returning treatment increased by 11.79% annually, CH4 emissions increased by 62.71% annually, N2O emissions decreased by 1.28% annually, GWP and GHGI increased by 60.90% and 45.58% annually, respectively.Compared with conventional flooding treatment, the yield of controlled irrigation treatment increased by 2.68% annually, the difference was not significant, CH4 emissions decreased by 56.42% annually, N2O emissions increased by 133.41%,GWP and GHGI decreased by 54.89% and 55.93% annually, respectively.Straw returning and controlled irrigation had significant interaction on GWP and GHGI, but not significant interaction on yield.The GHGI values of the four treatments were as follows: KFH0< KFHS< CFH0< CFHS.Therefore, controlled irrigation is an irrigation method with stable rice yield and good greenhouse gas emission reduction effect.Straw returning and controlled irrigation can achieve the double goals of increasing yield and reducing greenhouse gas emissions of rice fields in cold regions.

New WHO global air quality guidelines: more pressure on nations to reduce air pollution levels

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Helminth elimination in the pursuit of sustainable development goals: a "worm index" for human development.

It is essential to study CO2 emissions intensity as the most critical factor affecting temperature increase and climate change in a country like Iran, which ranked seven regarding CO2 emissions intensity. Investigating the convergence of CO2 emissions intensity is essential in recognizing its dynamics in identifying the effectiveness of government environmental policies. In this paper, using the Markov chain and spatial Markov chain methods, the convergence of CO2 emissions intensity from fossil-fuel consumption has been investigated in 28 provinces of Iran from 2002 to 2016. The empirical results showed that convergence clubs and neighbors significantly influenced the transition probability of regions to clubs with high and low CO2 emissions. Therefore, if a province had a neighbor with low (high) CO2 emissions intensity, the transition probability of this province to the club with low (high) CO2 intensity increased. Therefore, in provinces that have neighbors with low (high) CO2 emissions intensity, the transition probability to the club with low (high) CO2 intensity increases.