Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and

Harvard University Center for the Environment

The China Project is an interdisciplinary, collaborative research program focused on China’s atmospheric environment. It conducts scholarly research on the complex nature and causes of local and regional air pollution in China, their health and economic impacts, and how measures to address them might be integrated with equitable international strategies to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

PROJECT NEWS

• Harvard-Tsinghua atmospheric scientists report on ozone and carbon monoxide levels in Beijing area in summertime, including meteorological factors limiting ozone in July - August. The paper is in the public review ("Discussion") stage of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, click here for abstract and more info.

• More book reviews of Clearing the Air, China Project book on the total damages of air pollution, and economy-wide costs and benefits of taxes to control emissions of pollutants and CO₂. Click for:
  

• "[T]his edited volume ... stands as a solemn, solid, and scholarly defence of the ... alarming message - air pollution causes significant damage to the Chinese population and economy." ... "Reader-friendly" ... "This book is a methodological breakthrough in the research on the environment-health nexus in China ..." - Fengshi Wu, Asian-Pacific Economic Literature
• "[I]mpressively integrated" ... "The multidisciplinary framework...allows for a total picture to emerge" ... "At a time when Beijing should be considering not only its local pollution problem, but also its global greenhouse gas emissions, [the book's policy] suggestions are a welcome addition to the debate ..." - Sam Geall, Far Eastern Economic Review
• "The encouraging -- indeed, politically crucial -- observation is that ... 'green taxes' would yield a double dividend: reducing ... damage while enhancing economic growth. ... [That] should be an offer that a government cannot refuse" -  Anthony J. McMichael, The Lancet (free registration)
• "There is no such detailed, comprehensive analysis of this topic. ... a commendable effort." - Vaclav Smil, University of Manitoba, author of China's Environmental Crisis
  
• "Clearing the Air is essential for anyone seriously interested in China's environment. Well researched and well written, the book documents what is known - and not known - about air pollution damage in China." - Haakon Vennemo, Director, ECON, Norway
  

• The book at MIT Press or Amazon or Barnes and Noble
• A description of the study and lead policy conclusion, including how to interpret national damage estimates, such as premature mortality and percent of GDP

• China Project economists release "'Co-Benefits' of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Policies in China: An Integrated Top-Down and Bottom-Up Modeling Analysis," an April 2008 Discussion Paper for Environment for Development and Resources for the Future

• China Project atmospheric chemists use satellite to show successful 40% reduction of NO_X during traffic restrictions for the Sino-Africa Summit, in Olympics test-run. Click below for:

• A NASA Earth Science Research feature (for non-scientists)
  
• Coverage of the results on BBC radio, in online news of Science, the European Space Agency, and other news sources, the press release of the American Geophysical Union, and citing of results in the Financial Times
• The scientific article in Geophysical Research Letters

• China Project economists lead the national cost-benefit assessment of China's energy efficiency and sulfur control policies, under the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue of Treasury Sec. Henry Paulson and Vice Premier Wang Qishan:
  

• Click here for a description of the research and participants  (scroll down a bit)

• Click here for the Summary for Policymakers of the Joint Economic Study of pollution control in the 3rd U.S.-China SED (December 2007)

• SICHUAN EARTHQUAKE RECOVERY: click here for advice on how to donate

PROJECT INTRODUCTION

RESEARCH AREAS

• Modeling Regional and Urban Air Quality: Sources, Transport, and Chemistry
  

• Measuring Air Pollutants: Atmospheric Observational Station

• Modeling China's Economy, with Energy Use, Emissions, and Environment

• Clearing the Air: Health and Economic Damages of Air Pollution, with Green Tax Policy Analyses

• Urban Transport, Land Use, Air Quality, and Health in Chengdu
  

• Environmental Culture, Law, and Politics

PUBLICATIONS

SEMINARS

PEOPLE

JOINING THE RESEARCH

OFFICES AND CONTACTS

Except for publications, this website observes Chinese name order, placing surnames in all-capitals for clarity.