In the Spotlight - Air Pollution

In the wake of severe air pollution levels in Beijing and other northern Chinese cities in January, an article in the Wall Street Journal featured a study by China Project researchers led by ZHAO Yu.

Conducted by ZHAO (now based in the Nanjing University School of Environment), Chris Nielsen, and collaborator ZHANG Jie, the study evaluates the mixed success of pollution control and energy conservation policies on China's emissions of diverse pollutants and CO2 during 2006-2010. It appears in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. In the WSJ article, Zhao and Nielsen stress the importance of moving beyond high-profile targeting of one or two pollutant types or sectors, because of the role of many species, from many sources, in the secondary chemistry forming fine particles (PM2.5) and ozone.