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There are concerns that the reported association of ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) with mortality might be a mixture of PM2.5 and weather conditions. We evaluated the effects of extreme weather conditions and weather types on mortality as well as their interactions with PM2.5 concentrations in a time series study. Daily non-accidental deaths, individual demographic information, daily average PM2.5 concentrations and meteorological data between 2012 and 2014 were obtained from Shanghai, China. Days with extreme weather conditions were identified. Six synoptic weather types (SWTs) were generated. The generalized additive model was set up to link the mortality with PM2.5 and weather conditions. Parameter estimation was based on Bayesian methods using both the Jeffreys’ prior and an informative normal prior in a sensitivity analysis. We estimate the percent increase in non-accidental mortality per 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 concentration and constructed corresponding 95% credible interval (CrI). In total, 336,379 non-accidental deaths occurred during the study period. Average daily deaths were 307. The results indicated that per 10 μg/m3 increase in daily average PM2.5 concentration alone corresponded to 0.26–0.35% increase in daily non-accidental mortality in Shanghai. Statistically significant positive associations between PM2.5 and mortality were found for favorable SWTs when considering the interaction between PM2.5 and SWTs. The greatest effect was found in hot dry SWT (percent increase = 1.28, 95% CrI: 0.72, 1.83), followed by warm humid SWT (percent increase = 0.64, 95% CrI: 0.15, 1.13). The effect of PM2.5 on non-accidental mortality differed under specific extreme weather conditions and SWTs. Environmental policies and actions should take into account the interrelationship between the two hazardous exposures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern cities are engines of production, innovation, and growth. However, urbanization also increases both local and global pollution from household consumption and firms’ production. Do emissions change proportionately to city size or does pollution tend to outpace or lag urbanization? Do emissions scale differently with population versus economic growth or are emissions, population, and economic growth inextricably linked? How are the scaling relationships between emissions, population, and economic growth affected by environmental regulation? This paper examines the link between urbanization, economic growth and pollution using data from Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the United States between 1999 and 2011. We find that the emissions of local air pollution in these MSAs scale according to a ¾ power law with both population size and gross domestic product (GDP). However, the monetary damages from these local emissions scale linearly with both population and GDP. Counties that have previously been out of attainment with the local air quality standards set by the Clean Air Act show an entirely different relationship: local emissions scale according to the square root of population, while the monetary damages from local air pollution follow a 2/3rds power law with population. Counties out of attainment are subject to more stringent emission controls; we argue based on this that enforcement of the Clean Air Act induces sublinear scaling between emissions, damages, and city size. In contrast, we find that metropolitan GDP scales super-linearly with population in all MSAs regardless of attainment status. Summarizing, our findings suggest that environmental policy limits the adverse effects of urbanization without interfering with the productivity benefits that manifest in cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the first attempt to apply the Mesoscale Meteorological Model (MM5)-Community Multi-Scale Air Quality Model (CMAQ) model system to simulate ground-level ozone (O3) over the continental Southeast Asia (CSEA) region for both hindcast and forecast purposes. Hindcast simulation was done over the CSEA domain for two historical O3 episodes, January 26-29, 2004 (January episode, northeast monsoon) and March 24-26, 2004 (March episode, southwest monsoon). Experimental forecast was done for next-day hourly O3 during January 2006 over the central part of Thailand (CENTHAI). Available data from 20 ambient monitoring stations in Thailand and 3 stations in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, were used for the episode analysis and for the model performance evaluation. The year 2000 anthropogenic emission inventory prepared by the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research at the University of Iowa was projected to the simulation year on the basis of the regional average economic growth rate. Hourly emission in urban areas was prepared using ambient carbon monoxide concentration as a surrogate for the emission intensity. Biogenic emissions were estimated based on data from the Global Emissions Inventory Activity. Hindcast simulations (CSEA) were performed with 0.5° × 0.5° resolution, whereas forecast simulations (CENTHAI) were done with 0.1° × 0.1° hourly emission input data. MM5-CMAQ model system performance during the selected episodes satisfactorily met U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criteria for O3 for most simulated days. The experiment forecast for next-day hourly O3 in January 2006 yielded promising results. Modeled plumes of ozone in both hindcast and forecast cases agreed with the main wind fields and extended over considerable downwind distances from large urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the spatial distribution and enforcement of air polluting facilities in the state of New Jersey, as listed in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Aerometric Information Retrieval System. Results show that air-polluting facilities tend to concentrate near minority neighborhoods, although this relationship is partially explained by factors of population density, manufacturing employment, and land use. Other results suggest that facilities in areas with a relatively high percentage of minority population tend to have a weaker record of environmental enforcement as compared to other facilities. Of the socioeconomic variables considered, employment in manufacturing appears to be the most strongly related to environmental enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the MEGAPOLI project, a program designed to build regional air-pollution models for every city in the world with a population of more than five million. The project encompasses 23 research organizations from 11 European countries in which its scientists hope that it will lead to better maps of potential exposure to harmful aerosols and particles. According to project leader Alexander Baklanov, MEGAPOLI is aimed to understand the bigger picture of the impact of megacities and the feedbacks between pollution and climate.

The article offers information on the April 2007 training activities program update on environmental protection in New Zealand and Australia. The training courses being conducted in conjunction with the IUAPPA Congress include air pollution control, ambient air quality monitoring, indoor air, and hazardous air pollutants. A course on air pollution meteorology and ausplume is scheduled in Christchurch, New Zealand on May 17-18, 2007. A training course on industrial odor control is slated on February 27-28, 2007 in Fremantle, Western Australia.

The article discusses the inadequacy of current environmental protection standards relating to the health hazards posed by the ozone levels in the atmosphere. Ozone has been known to be a common urban pollutant and has been correlated to health effects including reduced lung function, increases in respiratory symptoms, and asthma. A study was released in 2006 indicating that ozone may pose a danger to human health even at levels below the limits set by current U.S. and international regulations.

The article reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is extending the public comment period on proposed changes to the New Source Review (NSR) permitting program to February 17, 2006. The changes aim to provide consistency on how states implement the program for electric-generating units. The changes would work to standardize the emissions tests used in NSR to determine whether a physical or operational change at a power plant would cause emission increases that would require the plant to install additional pollution controls.

The article informs that critics of revision to air pollution standards, proposed last month by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), say the new daily threshold will only marginally improve public health. In fact, an outside panel that made such a recommendation is not happy with EPA's decision. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson did not answer that question during a 20 December teleconference announcing the standards but said he had thought long and hard about the data. Studies have shown that inhaling the small particles that make up soot, a widespread byproduct of combustion, harms health, although the mechanisms are not all clear. In 1997, the EPA first regulated fine particles measuring 2.5 micrometers or less. As part of a settlement in a suit brought by the American Lung Association, EPA was required to propose revised PM 2.5 rules by the end of 2005. Such a reduction could make a big difference in public health, scientists have found. The EPA models for nine major U.S. cities predict that the tightest daily and annual standards recommended by CASAC would cut the roughly 4700 deaths due each year to PM 2.5 in those cities by 48%.

Examines the relation between the results of epidemiologic studies of air pollution mortality and impact indicators that can be informative for environmental policy decisions. Appropriateness of number of deaths as an impact indicator; Calculation of loss of life expectancy from exposure to PM10, as implied by the long-term mortality studies of adults and infants.

Reports on developments in environmental management and policies around the world as of April 1, 1999. Includes the expenditures of the World Bank on climate-changing fossil fuel projects; Program expenditures of the United States that harm the environment; Risk of breathing polluted air to urban children; Year 1999 as the last chance for Europe to pass significant ecological tax reform measures.