Month: September 2020

Liang et al.: The 17-y spatiotemporal trend of PM2.5 and its mortality burden in China

Estimation of the chronic health effects of PM2.5 exposure has been hindered by the lack of long-term PM2.5 data in China. To support this, high-performance machine-learning models were developed to estimate PM2.5 concentrations at 1-km resolution in China from 2000 to 2016, based on satellite data, meteorological conditions, land cover information, road networks, and air pollution emission indicators. By adopting imputation techniques, relatively unbiased spatiotemporally continuous exposure estimates were generated. Annual mortality burdens attributable to long-term PM2.5 exposure were estimated at the provincial scale, and the national total adult premature deaths were estimated at 30.8 million over the 17-y period in China.

This study was published in PNAS (link).

 

Wang et al.: Satellite-based assessment of the long-term efficacy of PM2.5 pollution control policies across the Taiwan Strait

Evaluating the efficacy of air pollution control policies is an essential part of the decision-making process to develop new policies and improve existing measures.  In this analysis, we assessed the effects air pollution control policies in the Taiwan Strait Region from 2005 to 2018 using full-coverage, high-resolution PM2.5generated by a satellite-driven machine learning model. A ten-fold cross-validation for our prediction model showed an R2value of 0.89, demonstrating that these predictions can be used for policy evaluation. During the 14-year period, PM2.5levels in all areas of Fujian and Taiwan underwent a significant decrease. Separate regression models for policy evaluation in Taiwan and Fujian showed that all considered policies have mitigated PM2.5pollution to various degrees. The Clean Air Action Plans (CAAP) is the most effective control policy in Taiwan, while the Action Plan of Air Pollution Prevention and Control (APPC-AP) and Three-year Action Plan for Blue Skies (3YAP-BS) as well as their provincial implementation plans are the most successful in Fujian. The effectiveness of control policies, however, varies by land-use types especially for Taiwan.