The implementation of confinement and physical distancing measures to restrict people's activities and transit in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic allowed us to study how these measures affect the air quality in urban areas with high pollution rates, such as Santiago, Chile. A comparative study between the concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, NOx, CO, and O3 during the months of March to May 2020 and the corresponding concentrations during the same period in 2017-2019 is presented. A combination of surface measurements from the air quality monitoring network of the city, remote satellite measurements, and simulations of traffic activity and road transport emissions allowed us to quantify the change in the average concentrations of each pollutant. Average relative changes of traffic emissions (between 61% and 68%) implied statistically significant concentrations reductions of 54%, 13%, and 11% for NOx, CO, and PM2.5, respectively, during the pandemic period compared to historical period. In contrast, the average concentration of O3 increased by 63% during 2020 compared to 2017-2019. The nonlinear response observed in the pollution levels can be attributed to the changes in the vehicular emission patterns during the pandemic and to the role of other sources such as residential emissions or secondary PM.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2021.100803 | DOI Listing |
Infect Dis Poverty
January 2025
School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
Background: Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is a climate-sensitive zoonotic disease that poses a significant public health burden worldwide. While previous studies have established associations between meteorological factors and HFRS incidence, there remains a critical knowledge gap regarding the heterogeneity of these effects across diverse epidemic regions. Addressing this gap is essential for developing region-specific prevention and control strategies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Pollut Res Int
January 2025
Mechanical Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
The majority of industries throughout the world rely largely on fossil fuels as their primary energy source. However, these resources are finite and become scarcer by the day. Therefore, exploring alternative fuels and additives for diesel fuel is imperative to mitigate fuel consumption.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNature
January 2025
Key Laboratory of Coastal Environment and Resources of Zhejiang Province, School of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou, China.
The amount of methane released to the atmosphere from the Nord Stream subsea pipeline leaks remains uncertain, as reflected in a wide range of estimates. A lack of information regarding the temporal variation in atmospheric emissions has made it challenging to reconcile pipeline volumetric (bottom-up) estimates with measurement-based (top-down) estimates. Here we simulate pipeline rupture emission rates and integrate these with methane dissolution and sea-surface outgassing estimates to model the evolution of atmospheric emissions from the leaks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
College of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China.
Land use and land cover changes (LULCC) alter local surface attributes, thereby modifying energy balance and material exchanges, ultimately impacting meteorological parameters and air quality. The North China Plain (NCP) has undergone rapid urbanization in recent decades, leading to dramatic changes in land use and land cover. This study utilizes the 2020 land use and land cover data obtained from the MODIS satellite to replace the default 2001 data in the Weather Research and Forecasting-Community Multiscale Air Quality (WRF-CMAQ) model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
School of Public Health, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750004, Ningxia, China.
Lifestyle factors and ambient air pollution are linked to dementia and CMDs, yet few studies have investigated their impact on dementia risk in CMDs patients at the same time. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the influence of lifestyle and ambient air pollution on the dementia risk of the CMDs population among 438,681 participants in the UK Biobank. It is found that the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment and dementia in the population seems to increase with the increase in the number of CMDs.
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