Abstract
Air pollution is one of the most challenging environmental issues in the world. China has achieved remarkable success in improving air quality in last decade as a result of aggressive air pollution control policies. However, the average fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration in China is still about six times of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQG) and causing significant human health risks. Extreme emission reductions of multiple air pollutants are required for China to achieve the AQG. Here we identify the major challenges in future air quality improvement and propose corresponding control strategies. The main challenges include the persistently high health risk attributed to PM2.5 pollution, the excessively loose air quality standards, and coordinated control of air pollution, greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and emerging pollutants. To further improve air quality and protect human health, a health-oriented air pollution control strategy shall be implemented by tightening the air quality standards as well as optimizing emission reduction pathways based on the health risks of various sources. In the meantime, an “one-atmosphere” concept shall be adopted to strengthen the synergistic control of air pollutants and GHGs and the control of non-combustion sources and emerging pollutants shall be enhanced.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22188102) and the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2022YFC3702905). We also thank the support from Tsinghua-TOYOTA Joint Research Center.
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Conflict of Interests Jiming Hao is an advisory board member of Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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Highlights
• Major challenges of air pollution control in China are summarized.
• A “health-oriented” air pollution control strategy is proposed.
• Directions of air quality standard amendments are discussed.
• “One-atmosphere” concept shall be adopted to synergistically address multiple issues.
Shuxiao Wang is a Full Professor at School of Environment, Tsinghua University. She received a B.S. and M.S. from School of Chemical Engineering at Tianjin University, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at Tsinghua University. Then she completed a 2-year postdoctoral training at Harvard University before joining Tsinghua University as an Assistant Professor in 2003. In 2011 she was promoted to a Full Professor. She has been directoring the State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Sources and Control of Air Pollution Complex in China since 2017. Her research interests focus on sources, atmospheric chemistry, health impacts, interactions between climate and air, and control policies. She has published over 400 peer-reviewed journal papers, which have been cited for more than 32000 times with an H-index of 96 (Google Scholar). She has been Global Highly Cited Scientist since 2019. She is Associate Editor for two journals: ES&T and ES&T Letters. She also serves as Scientific Committee Member of Asia-Pacific Clean Air Partnership and the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution.
Jiming Hao is a Professor in School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Foreign Academician of U.S. National Academy of Engineering. He earned a B.S. from Tsinghua University in 1970, a M.S. from Tsinghua University in 1981, and a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati in 1984. Prof. Hao’s major research interests are energy and the environment, air pollution control, greenhouse gas reduction and circular economy. He led the designation of China’s acid rain control measures, developed the methodology of urban vehicle pollution control planning, and pushed the process of China’s vehicle pollution control. He also developed theories and technical strategies for improving air quality in megacities and promoted the joint regional air pollution control in China. Prof. Hao is the Dean of the Research Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University and the Director of Beijing Laboratory of Environmental Frontier Technologies. He serves as the Member of the International Council on Clean Transportation, Member of the National Ecological Environment Protection Expert Committee. He also holds the additional role of Chair of the Science Advisory Committee on Air Pollution Control in the Asia-Pacific region for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
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Zhao, B., Wang, S. & Hao, J. Challenges and perspectives of air pollution control in China. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 18, 68 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-024-1828-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-024-1828-z