Abstract
The 3D spatiotemporal distribution (spatial and annual-month-daily temporal) features of the air quality index (AQI), air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO, and O3-8h), and air pollution risks (R) from 2003 to 2018 were investigated to understand the severity of air pollution in Henan province. The multiyear ascending trends for AQI and R values, with a peak in 2015, were observed in 2003 to 2018 since the annual population-weighted average concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and O3-8h were always higher than the CAAQs II from 2013 to 2017 in Henan province. Changes in the monthly moving average AQI values in Henan province conformed to a U-shaped pattern, with the highest values in the winter (from December to February) and the lowest in the summer (from June to August). Triple peaks for AQI values of 8:00‒10:00 a.m., 6:00‒8:00 p.m., and 2:00‒4:00 p.m. in the representative municipalities corresponded with the morning and evening traffic tendencies and photochemical process. A spatial analysis indicated that there were decreasing trends for air pollution from northwest to southeast in Henan province. Data on 48 concrete parameters were collected from 2003 to 2017 to construct a driving force‒pressure‒state‒influence‒response (DPSIR) model for assessing the socioeconomic forces driving air pollution in this province. It was the too-rapid growth of the driving force index (DFI), induced by urban development and population growth (UDPG), economic growth and change of industrial structure (EGCIS), and energy consumption growth and structure change (ECGSC), that led to a direct increase in the atmospheric pollution burden, i.e., total emissions from air pollution and industrial emissions, which are linearly correlated to values of UDPG and ECGSC, respectively (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the prediction models for AQI and R values in Henan province, with the growth rates being 4.251 DFI−1 and 0.0816 DFI−1, respectively, were simulated by multiple linear regression analysis. Therefore, the integrated risks of air pollution in Henan province were originally driven by DFI.
Highlights
As the fastest-growing major economy in the world, China has been increasingly threatened by environmental deterioration due to rapid economic growth, unprecedented urbanization, and climatic conditions in the past three decades [1]
A statistical analysis indicated that changes in the monthly moving average air quality index (AQI) values conformed to a U-shaped pattern, being the highest in the winter and the lowest in the summer, which was consistent with the change trends for northern China discussed by Song et al (2017) [9]
The annual population-weighted average (PWA) values of PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and O3-8h in Henan province were always higher than the CAAQs II in 2013 to 2017, i.e., the annual population-weighted-average (PWA) values of PM2.5, PM10, and O3 in Henan province were 0.081 (0.073, 0.066) mg m−3, 0.135 (0.127, 0.117) mg m−3, 0.150 (0.165, 0.183) mg m−3, and 0.403 (0.405, 0.402) mg m−3, respectively, in 2015 (2016, 2017)
Summary
As the fastest-growing major economy in the world, China has been increasingly threatened by environmental deterioration due to rapid economic growth, unprecedented urbanization, and climatic conditions in the past three decades [1]. To eliminate or alleviate the detrimental effects of air pollution, a series of measures, including end-of-pipe emission technologies exploitation, fuel consumption efficiencies improvement, implementation of industrial energy-saving and emission-reduction policies, and the formulation of much stricter standards, as well as the promulgation of the Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control, has been taken by the Chinese government in the past few years. The urban expansion, economic growth and its structure change, energy consumption structure, motor vehicle use, population size and density were supposed to be the key influence factors for Chinese air pollutions by Liu et al [1], Wang et al [13], Lyu et al [15], Azimi et al [18], and Basagaña et al [19]. Ning et al (2018) studied the effect of topographical conditions on characteristics of air pollution in Sichuan Basin, China [21]
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