Pollution In Urban Areas Research Articles

Physicochemical Characterization of Gasoline and Analysis of the Vulnerability and Criticality of Atmospheric Pollutants in N'Djamena

In this work we made an analysis for the physicochemical characterization of gasoline sold on the roadsides of the city of N'Djamena. For our first experience on the storage of gasoline in cans exposed to the sun, we noticed the formation of lumps and solid particles at the bottom of the cans. We then sampled a sample by district and subjected it to the analysis conditions. The analyses focused on Density at 15°C; ASTM distillation; Reid vapor pressure, Octane number; Determination of corrosion of copper blades as well as Determination of sulfur content. The results of the analyzed contraband gasolines are out of specifications under normal analysis conditions. Despite the many studies carried out on air pollution by particles, uncertainties remain. It is more or less complex to treat particulate pollution in urban areas, this is in fact due to the modifications resulting from different meteorological factors (wind, precipitation, etc.), topographical (slope, etc.) and urban morphological, which constitute limiting factors in the dispersion of these pollutants, thus, different maps have been studied according to the vulnerability and criticality of the accentuated situation relating to pollution throughout the city of N'Djamena. The results confirm the presence of particles that can affect human health. In addition to the presence of all the elements that we have been able to discover, there is on average the result of the presence of PM10 particles which is: 66.98016239 ug/m<sup>3</sup> well above the WHO guideline which recommends 50 μg/m<sup>3</sup>/day as well as the daily average for PM2.5 which is: 56.83616723 ug/m<sup>3</sup> well above the WHO guideline which recommends 25 μg/m<sup>3</sup>/day. The objective of this article is to clearly present the urgency of air pollution throughout the territory in order to take a binding decision on the current situation based on the proliferation and illicit sale of petroleum products in the city of N'Djamena, particularly gasoline.

Drone-Assisted Last-Mile Delivery Under Windy Conditions: Zero Pollution Solutions

As cities expand and the global push for zero pollution intensifies, sustainable last-mile delivery (LMD) systems are essential to minimizing environmental and health impacts. This study addresses the need for more sustainable LMD by examining the integration of wind conditions into drone-assisted deliveries, focusing on their effects on air and noise pollution in urban areas. We extend the flying sidekick traveling salesman problem (FSTSP) by incorporating meteorological factors, specifically wind, to assess drone delivery efficiency in varying conditions. Our results show that while drones significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional delivery vehicles, their contribution to noise pollution remains a concern. This research highlights the environmental advantages of using drones, particularly in reducing CO2 emissions, while also emphasizing the need for further investigation into mitigating their noise impact. By evaluating the trade-offs between air and noise pollution, this study provides insights into developing more sustainable, health-conscious delivery models that contribute to smart city initiatives. The findings inform policy, urban planning, and logistics strategies aimed at achieving zero pollution goals and improving urban livability.

Effective Air Pollution Monitoring System for Eco Balance

Air pollution in urban areas is increasingly driven by vehicle emissions, which release harmful gases include such things as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), hydrocarbons (HC), and particulate matter (PM). These pollutants pose significant risks to both environmental quality and public health, highlighting the urgent need for effective monitoring and control systems. This project presents the development of an automated Effective Air Pollution Monitoring System for Eco Balance, designed to detect exhaust gas levels in real-time as vehicles pass designated points. The system employs advanced sensors to monitor pollutant concentrations and utilizes a camera- based recognition system to capture the number plates of vehicles that exceed permissible emission levels. The collected data, including pollution metrics and vehicle details, is transmitted to the Regional Transport Office (RTO) for necessary enforcement actions. By promoting compliance with emission standards, this automated system aims to significantly reduce vehicle-related air pollution, fostering a cleaner and healthier urban environment

Impact of car electrification on urban noise pollution: a microscopic traffic simulation study

Noise pollution is a major health and well-being concern, being associated with, e.g., sleep disturbance, annoyance, and cardiovascular diseases. Road traffic is, by far, the largest contributor to this noise pollution in urban areas. With the growing electrification of cars in developed countries, it is commonly believed that road traffic noise pollution and the associated problems will disappear shortly in urban areas. However, at high speeds, the difference in noise emissions between internal-combustion-engine and electric vehicles is not significant, and at low speeds, the propulsion noise of electric cars is not negligible. Few works have quantitatively estimated the actual impact of passenger cars electrification on population exposure to noise, especially considering such aspects as the gradual transition towards a fully electric fleet. The present contribution thus aims to assess the evolution of population exposure to noise pollution, using a microscopic traffic simulation on the scale of an entire city, noise mapping, and various indicators, at multiple stages of this transition.

Ecological Imperialism and Indigenous Resistance: A Postcolonial Ecocritical Analysis of Selected Indian English Novels

This paper examines the representation of environmental degradation and critique of postcolonial development paradigms in two contemporary Indian English novels: Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide (2004) and Indra Sinha's Animal's People (2007). Employing a postcolonial ecocritical framework, the study analyzes how these works articulate the environmental consequences of development in India, challenge Western models of progress, and highlight indigenous environmental perspectives. The research reveals that both novels effectively portray multi-faceted environmental issues, from biodiversity loss in the Sundarbans to long-term impacts of industrial pollution in urban areas. They offer pointed critiques of anthropocentric development models while presenting indigenous knowledge as a valuable alternative for sustainable human-nature relationships. The study contributes to postcolonial ecocriticism by demonstrating how Indian English literature engages with and critiques the environmental costs of postcolonial development. It underscores the potential of literature to provide nuanced, culturally-specific insights into complex environmental issues, challenging dominant narratives and proposing alternative visions of progress.

Ground ozone rise during the 2022 shanghai lockdown caused by the unfavorable emission reduction ratio of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds

Ground-level ozone (O3) pollution has shifted from a scientific issue to a key focus of governmental action in China. In recent years, the concentration of NO2 in Shanghai has shown a decreasing trend of 3.7% annually, but ozone concentrations have exhibited significant interannual variability, particularly with a noticeable increase in 2022. This study focuses on investigating the mechanisms behind the increase in ozone concentration during the COVID-19 pandemic control period in 2022 in Shanghai, utilizing a combination of ground observation data, observation-based models, and chemical transport models for analysis. The results indicate that during the lockdown period, the mean values of daily maximum 8-h average O3 concentrations (MDA8 O3) in Shanghai increased by 17 μg/m³, with emission-related factors contributing 65.3%, primarily due to a blanket reduction in VOCs and NOx emissions during the lockdown, with a reduction ratio close to 1:1. However, this reduction ratio and intensity are not sufficiently reasonable to alleviate ozone pollution. Meanwhile, adverse meteorological conditions further exacerbated this effect, contributing 34.7%, with temperature rise having the greatest impact. Results from the chemical transport model show that with the total reduction in NOx and VOCs emissions unchanged, the greater the reduction in VOC emissions and the better the reduction effect on ozone pollution, reducing MDA8 O3 by approximately 10 μg/m³, especially for the control of reactive compounds such as alkenes, aromatics, and OVOCs. However, if the reduction ratio of NOx is greater than that of VOCs, ozone concentrations may not decrease but instead increase. This indicates that ozone concentration is influenced not only by the intensity of emissions reduction but also by the ratio of emissions reduction between NOx and VOCs. Our study emphasizes the critical role of carefully designed strategies, focusing on controlling the ratio of VOCs to NOx and increasing the intensity of VOCs reduction, to effectively alleviate ozone pollution in urban areas.

Scalable Innovative Factors for Shaping Consumer Intentions on Electric Two-Wheelers Adoptions

Electric two-wheelers (ETWs) have emerged as a dominant choice over traditional counterparts in global consumer markets, prompting a shift in consumer behaviour. While existing research has delved into the adoption of ETWs, there remains a notable gap in understanding the intricate factors driving consumer adoption, particularly their inclination toward innovation. This study investigates the landscape of ETWs in India, focusing on facilitating conditions, pricing dynamics, personal innovativeness, and behavioral intentions. Utilizing the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework, 220 Indian ETW users were surveyed to elucidate the interplay between facilitating conditions, price, and behavioral intentions, mediated by personal innovativeness. The findings underscore the significant impact of facilitating conditions and price on behavioral intentions, with personal innovativeness serving as a pivotal mediator in this relationship. Moreover, this study underscores the importance for ETW businesses to prioritize user-friendly designs, ensuring a seamless and enjoyable experience for consumers. Furthermore, targeting highly innovative consumers emerges as a strategic imperative for businesses in devising effective marketing strategies. By shedding light on facilitating conditions, price dynamics, personal innovation, and behavioral intentions, this study contributes valuable insights to the existing literature. In terms of environmental sustainability, the scalability of electric twowheelers contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating air pollution in urban areas. As more individuals switch from gasoline-powered vehicles to electric two-wheelers, the collective impact on reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality becomes increasingly significant, especially in densely populated regions where transportation-related pollution is a major concern. Additionally, it offers a nuanced understanding of the mediating role of personal innovation in the context of ETWs, thereby informing future research and strategic initiatives in the field of electric mobility.

The Impact of Green Infrastructure on the Quality of Stormwater and Environmental Risk

Increasing urbanization and the associated sealing of areas and the use of storm sewer systems for drainage not only increase the risk of flooding but also reduce water quality in streams into which stormwater is discharged. Green infrastructure (GI) measures are applied with the aim of managing this stormwater sustainably and reducing the associated risks. To this end, a quantitative–qualitative approach was developed to simulate GI—namely, rain gardens, bioretention cells, and vegetative bioswales—at the urban catchment scale. The findings highlight the potential of applying GI measures to managing stormwater more effectively in urban environments and mitigating its negative pollution-related impacts. For the housing estate analyzed, a simulated implementation of GI resulted in a reduction in pollution, measured as total nitrogen (N; 9–52%), nitrate-N (5–30%), total phosphorus (11–59%), chemical oxygen demand (8–46%), total suspended solids (13–73%), copper (12–64%), zinc (Zn; 16–87%), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (16–91%), and the hydrocarbon oil index (HOI; 15–85%). Reducing the concentrations of pollutants minimizes the risk to human health determined via the HOI from a low-risk level to zero risk and reduces the ecological risk in terms of Zn pollution from a significant risk to a low risk of adverse effects. The modeling conducted clearly shows that the GI solutions implemented facilitated a quantitative reduction and a qualitative improvement in stormwater, which is crucial from an environmental perspective and ensures a sustainable approach to stormwater management. Lowering the levels of stormwater pollution through the implementation of GI will consequently lower the environmental burden of pollutants in urban areas.

Disentangling the effects of meteorology and emissions from anthropogenic and biogenic sources on the increased surface ozone in Eastern China

China's Clean Air Actions have substantially improved ambient PM2.5 air quality since 2013. However, ozone (O3) pollution in urban areas has worsened in recent years, particularly in the eastern region. The formation of O3 in these high emission areas is highly complex and regulated by numerous factors. Utilizing the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem), this study conducted a comprehensive analysis through nine sensitivity experiments for the years 2013 and 2017, aimed at disentangling the relative contributions of major factors (e.g., meteorological factors, anthropogenic emissions, biogenic emissions, and aerosol feedback mechanisms) to the observed O3 concentration trends in Jiangsu, a developed region of China with increasing trend of O3 level. Our findings indicate a pronounced increase in mean daily maximum 8-h average (MDA8) O3 levels in the economically vibrant southern Jiangsu, contrasted with a decrease in the less developed northern regions. The study identifies anthropogenic emissions change as the primary driver of O3 variations, with significant impacts also attributed to meteorological conditions and aerosol feedback effects, while biogenic emission shifts play a lesser role. In terms of meteorological factors, we discovered that the alteration in meteorological thermal factors (enhanced solar radiation and temperatures) in 2017, compared to 2013, exerted a more pronounced influence on the formation of O3 than the change in thermally driven dynamic factors (boundary layer height and wind speed). Moreover, the study observes a shift in O3 formation sensitivity from VOC-sensitive to transitional or NOX-sensitive regimes, signifying a notable transformation in the regional atmospheric chemistry conducive to O3 generation. Aerosol feedback effects, through complex pathways including photolysis rate alterations and modifications in the vertical O3 distribution, further compound the challenge of mitigating O3 levels. Our research underscores the necessity for adaptive, region-specific strategies to mitigate O3 pollution, providing potential insights for policymakers to formulate effective control measures.

Impact of Urbanization on Canine Health in Germany

Purpose: To aim of the study was to analyze the impact of urbanization on canine health in Germany. Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: Urbanization in Germany has significantly impacted canine health, with findings indicating both positive and negative effects. On the positive side, urban areas provide access to veterinary services, pet-friendly facilities, and socialization opportunities, which can enhance dogs' overall well-being. However, the challenges of urban living, such as increased pollution, noise, and reduced green spaces, contribute to health issues like respiratory problems, anxiety, and obesity in dogs. Additionally, urbanization often leads to a higher incidence of canine diseases due to close contact with other animals and people. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Environmental stress theory, one health approach & urban ecology theory may be used to anchor future studies on the impact of urbanization on canine health in Germany. Integrate canine health considerations into urban planning and design. Advocate for stricter environmental regulations to control air and noise pollution in urban areas. Policy measures could include implementing and enforcing air quality standards, promoting the use of low-emission vehicles, and regulating industrial activities that contribute to pollution.

A Hybrid RANS/LES Model for Predicting the Aerodynamics of Small City Vehicles

Electric city vehicles are vital for reducing pollution in urban areas due to their zero emissions and high energy efficiency, significantly improving air quality and reducing the carbon footprint. This study investigates the aerodynamic behavior of simplified city vehicle models using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations based on Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) turbulence model. The models are tested at speeds of 10 m/s, 15 m/s, and 20 m/s, with a grid independence study to ensure reliable results. ANSYS Fluent is used for the simulations, comparing the results from RANS and hybrid RANS/LES or DDES in terms of aerodynamic forces and flow patterns around the vehicle. Results show that the drag coefficient (Cd) decreases with increasing speed for both RANS and DDES models. At 10 m/s, the drag coefficients are 0.541 for RANS and 0.524 for DDES, a 3.14% reduction. At 15 m/s, the drag coefficients are 0.539 for RANS and 0.518 for DDES, a 3.89% reduction. At 20 m/s, the drag coefficients are 0.538 for RANS and 0.514 for DDES, a 4.46% reduction. Flow visualizations show that DDES simulations capture more detailed and complex flow structures, particularly in the wake region, compared to the smoother RANS patterns. These findings are essential guidelines for optimizing vehicle design to enhance aerodynamic performance and contribute to the development of more efficient, environmentally friendly urban transportation solutions.

Environmental Impacts of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC): An analysis of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies

This article explores the complex environmental impacts of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and suggests sustainable development strategies. Our study reveals significant changes in land use patterns, including loss of important habitat, which is contributing to biodiversity decline. Analysis of air quality data shows increased levels of pollutants in urban areas along the corridor, which are exacerbated by construction activity and increased traffic. Water resource assessments highlight issues related to quality and availability, especially in areas with high industrial activity. In response to these findings, we suggest methods for mitigating and adapting to climate change along the corridor. Interpreting these findings, we argue that these assessments are critical for identifying potential environmental problems and ensuring that development initiatives are built with long-term sustainability in mind. Recommendations for mitigating climate change include international cooperation, increasing public awareness, and using resilient design principles. For future development projects, we include sustainable practices, community involvement and compliance with environmentally friendly standards as important elements in economic growth. We draw conclusions by emphasizing the need for future studies to track long-term impacts, evaluate socio-economic implications, and implement environmentally friendly strategies, maintaining a long-term balance between economic development and environmental conservation in CPEC and other international projects.

Evaluating background and local contributions and identifying traffic-related pollutant hotspots: insights from Google Air View mobile monitoring in Dublin, Ireland

Mobile monitoring provides high-resolution observation on temporal and spatial scales compared to traditional fixed-site measurement. This study demonstrates the use of high spatio-temporal resolution of air pollution data collected by Google Air View vehicles to identify hotspots and assess compliance with WHO Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) in Dublin City. The mobile monitoring was conducted during weekdays, typically from 7:00 to 19:00, between 6 May 2021 and 6 May 2022. One-second data were aggregated to 377,113 8 s road segments, and 8 s rolling medians were aggregated to hourly and daily levels for further analysis. We assessed the temporal variability of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen monoxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations at hyperlocal levels. The average daytime median concentrations of NO2 (28.4 ± 15.7 µg/m3) and PM2.5 (7.6 ± 4.7 µg/m3) exceeded the WHO twenty-four hours (24 h) Air Quality Guidelines in 49.4% and 9% of the 1-year sampling time, respectively. For the diurnal variation of measured pollutants, the morning (8:00) and early evening (18:00) showed higher concentrations for NO2 and PM2.5, mostly happening in the winter season, while the afternoon is the least polluted time except for O3. The low-percentile approach along with 1-h and daytime minima method allowed for decomposing pollutant time series into the background and local contributions. Background contributions for NO2 and PM2.5 changed along with the seasonal variation. Local contributions for PM2.5 changed slightly; however, NO2 showed significant diurnal and seasonal variability related to traffic emissions. Short-lived event enhancement (1 min to 1 h) accounts for 36.0–40.6% and 20.8–42.2% of the total concentration for NO2 and PM2.5. The highly polluted days account for 56.3% of total NO2, highlighting local traffic is the dominant contributor to short-term NO2 concentrations. The longer-lived events (> 8 h) enhancement accounts for 25% of the monitored concentrations. Additionally, conducting optimal hotspot analysis enables mapping the spatial distribution of “hot” spots for PM2.5 and NO2 on highly polluted days. Overall, this investigation suggests both background and local emissions contribute to PM2.5 and NO2 pollution in urban areas and emphasize the urgent need for mitigating NO2 from traffic pollution in Dublin.

Numerical analysis of the tread grooves' acoustic resonances for the investigation of tyre noise

Abstract Tyre/road noise is one of the major sources of noise pollution in urban areas. This phenomenon can be described as the combined effect of several generation and amplification mechanisms. Acoustic resonances due to the tread grooves at the footprint region, also known as pipe resonances, are particularly important since they can generate high noise levels if they combine with harmonic generation mechanisms. This paper deals with a numerical investigation of this phenomenon and describes modelling approaches that might be used to estimate the frequencies and the mode shapes of these resonances.

Determination of potentially toxic metals and natural radionuclides in airborne pollens produced different urban environments in Turkey and health risk assessment

ABSTRACT Air pollutants are associated with potentially toxic metals (PTMs) and natural and/or artificial radionuclides, which can pose a major threat to human and environmental health. Pollens can be utilized as a bioindicator to determine the level of air pollution in urban areas. In this study, the concentrations of PTMs and natural radionuclides in 35 airborne pollen samples of 22 species belonging to Pinaceae, Cupressaceae, Araucariaceae, Betulaceae, Salicaceae, and Oleaceae families grown in different urban areas in Turkey were determined using an energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. For the first time, non-carcinogenic and radiologic health risk assessments for adults were done, estimating hazard index (HI) and annual effective dose (AED), respectively. The concentrations of Fe, Mn, Zn, Ti, Sr, Cu, Ni, Co, Cr, V and Pb analyzed in airborne pollen samples varied from 52.1 to 3078.0, 26.1 to 159.6, 15.6 to 199.7, 9.1 to 282.2, 1.0 to 128.4, 5.0 to 40.1, 5.4 to 23.6, <LD to 11.3, 1.6 to 26.6, <LD to 11.1 and <LD to 5.7 mg/kg, respectively. The average concentrations of K (2%), Th (1.3 mg/kg) and U (1.0 mg/kg) were converted into the activity concentrations (in Bq/kg) of 40K (595.8), 232Th (5.2) and 238U (11.8), respectively. All HI and AED values revealed a very low non-carcinogenic and radiological health risk due to exposure to all PTMs and radionuclides in the pollen samples studied.

Preoperative Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter and Risk of Postoperative Complications: A Single Center Observational Cohort Bayesian Analysis.

While exposure to fine particulate matter air pollution (PM 2.5 ) is known to cause adverse health effects, its impact on postoperative outcomes in US adults remains understudied. Perioperative exposure to PM 2.5 may induce inflammation that insidiously interacts with the systemic inflammatory response after surgery, leading to higher postoperative complications. We conducted a single center, retrospective cohort study using data from 64,313 surgical patients living along Utah's Wasatch Front and undergoing elective surgical procedures at a single academic medical center from 2016-2018. Patients' addresses were geocoded and linked to daily Census-tract level PM 2.5 estimates preoperatively. We hypothesized that elevated PM 2.5 concentrations in the seven days prior to surgery would be associated with an increase in a bundle of major postoperative complications. A hierarchical Bayesians regression model was fit adjusting for age, sex, season, neighborhood disadvantage, and the Elixhauser index of comorbidities. Postoperative complications increased in a dose-dependent manner with higher concentrations of PM 2.5 exposure, with a relative increase of 7% in the odds of complications for every 10ug/m3 increase in the highest single-day 24-hr PM 2.5 exposure during the 7 days prior to surgery. The association persisted after controlling for comorbidities and potential confounders; our inferences were robust to modeling choices and sensitivity analysis. In this large Utah cohort, exposure to elevated PM 2.5 concentrations in the week before surgery was associated with increased postoperative complications in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting a potential impact of air pollution on surgical outcomes. These findings merit replication in larger datasets to identify populations at risk and to define the interaction and impact of different pollutants. PM 2.5 exposure is a potential perioperative risk factor and, given the unmitigated air pollution in urban areas, a global health concern.

Capturing Exposure Disparities with Chemical Transport Models: Evaluating the Suitability of Downscaling Using Land Use Regression.

High resolution exposure surfaces are essential to capture disparities in exposure to traffic-related air pollution in urban areas. In this study, we develop an approach to downscale Chemical Transport Model (CTM) simulations to a hyperlocal level (∼100m) in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) under three scenarios where emissions from cars, trucks and buses are zeroed out, thus capturing the burden of each transportation mode. This proposed approach statistically fuses CTMs with Land-Use Regression using machine learning techniques. With this proposed downscaling approach, changes in air pollutant concentrations under different scenarios are appropriately captured by downscaling factors that are trained to reflect the spatial distribution of emission reductions. Our validation analysis shows that high-resolution models resulted in better performance than coarse models when compared with observations at reference stations. We used this downscaling approach to assess disparities in exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) for populations composed of renters, low-income households, recent immigrants, and visible minorities. Individuals in all four categories were disproportionately exposed to the burden of cars, trucks, and buses. We conducted this analysis at spatial resolutions of 12, 4, 1 km, and 100 m and observed that disparities were significantly underestimated when using coarse spatial resolutions. This reinforces the need for high-spatial resolution exposure surfaces for environmental justice analyses.

How international conflicts and global crises can intertwine and affect the sources and levels of air pollution in urban areas.

This paper analyses the intertwined impacts of the 2018 US sanctions on Iran and the COVID-19 pandemic (as examples of unplanned international conflicts and global crises) on the source and extent of air pollution in Tehran, the capital of Iran. The impacts are parametrized using the levels of criteria air pollutants (CAP) for 5years (2015-2020), which were previously deweathered using the promising machine learning technique of Random Forest (RF). The absolute principal component scores-multiple linear regression (APCS-MLR) method and the bivariate polar plot (BPP) technique are used here to analyze the source apportionment profile of the city for the business as usual (BAU; 2015 to 2018), sanctions (2019), and COVID-19 and sanctions (2020) intervals. The results show the severe impact of the 2018 US sanctions on Tehran's air quality (AQ); O3, NO2, CO, PM2.5, and PM10 levels increased by 117%, 55%, 20%, 35%, and 10%, respectively, while SO2 levels decreased by 30%. The sanctions also triggered a number of events, such as the disruption of the high-grade fuel supply chain and the Mazut crisis, which directly or indirectly accelerated the photochemical production of local tropospheric ozone to some extent. Sanctions also disrupted Tehran's AQ response to the pandemic, with CAP levels decreasing by only 2-7% during the pandemic. The ozone and PM10 BPPs show that the source apportionment profile of the city is dominated by local anthropogenic emission sources, especially urban transport, after the sanctions and the pandemic. Results also show that the impact of soft wars, such as the US sanctions against Iran, on urban air quality degradation is much stronger than that of hard wars, such as the Russia-Ukraine war.

Spatiotemporal Distribution Characteristics of Ground-level-ozone and Its Relationship with Meteorological Conditions in a Representative City in the Bohai Rim from 2017 to 2022

In recent years, ground-level-ozone（O3） pollution in urban areas in the Bohai Rim has attracted wide attention. Based on the analysis of the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of O3 concentration in Dongying, a representative city in the Bohai Rim from 2017 to 2022, the effects of meteorological factors and sea-land breeze circulation on O3 concentration were evaluated. The results showed that： ① From 2017 to 2022, the annual assessment value of O3 concentration in Dongying showed a fluctuating upward trend, and the pollution days with O3 as the primary pollutant increased. O3 pollution mainly occurred in spring, summer, and autumn, with the most severe O3 pollution episodes typically occurring in May and June, and the duration of O3 pollution season tended to be longer. The monthly variation in the daily maximum 8-h average ozone （MDA8 O3） presented a bimodal distribution, with significant increases in the 5th and 25th percentiles, and the spatial distribution was "high in the north and south, low in the middle." In addition, the nocturnal O3 concentration in recent years in Dongying also showed a significant increase trend. ② Meteorological factors greatly influenced O3 concentration in Dongying. When the temperature was greater than 30℃, the relative humidity was less than 50%, and the wind direction was south-southwest or east-northeast, a high O3 value was more likely to occur. Meteorological factors contributed 30% of the MDA8 O3 variation in Dongying during the study period. In the case of moderate and severe O3 pollution, the contribution of meteorological factors to the change in MDA8 O3 could be as high as 40%. ③ To some extent, sea-land breeze contributed to the occurrence of MDA8 O3 exceeding the secondary standard limit value of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard. In the afternoon, the hourly concentration of O3 during the sea-land breeze days was approximately 20 μg·m-3 higher than that during the non-sea-land breeze days. On the days of moderate and severe O3 pollution, the O3 concentration during the sea-land breeze days from 10：00 to 16：00 was higher than that during non-sea-land breeze days, and the O3 concentration was also at a high level from 20：00 to 23：00 on sea-land breeze days. In the O3 pollution season, the sea-land breeze could significantly affect the O3 level in coastal cities, which could bring significant challenges for O3 pollution prevention and control in this region. In the future, cities in the Bohai Rim need to further strengthen regional joint prevention and control of O3 pollution and increase emission reduction efforts of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. This strategy could effectively lower pollutant concentrations within the land breeze air mass, consequently reducing the impact of the sea breeze air mass on air quality in cities in the Bohai Rim.

Noise Pollution in Urban Areas : Measurement and Analysis of Traffic Noise Impacts on Health and Education Services in Bandung City

Noise Pollution in Urban Areas : Measurement and Analysis of Traffic Noise Impacts on Health and Education Services in Bandung City