TY - JOUR T1 - China's emission control strategies have suppressed unfavorable influences of climate on wintertime PM2.5 concentrations in Beijing since 2002 JF - Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Y1 - 2020 A1 - Meng Gao A1 - Zirui Liu A1 - Bo Zheng A1 - Dongsheng Ji A1 - Sherman, Peter A1 - Shaojie Song A1 - Jinyuan Xin A1 - Cheng Liu A1 - Yuesi Wang A1 - Zhang, Qiang A1 - Xing, Jia A1 - Jingkun Jiang A1 - Zifa Wang A1 - Gregory R. Carmichael A1 - McElroy, Michael B. AB - Severe wintertime PM2.5 pollution in Beijing has been receiving increasing worldwide attention, yet the decadal variations remain relatively unexplored. Combining field measurements and model simulations, we quantified the relative influences of anthropogenic emissions and meteorological conditions on PM2.5 concentrations in Beijing over the winters of 2002–2016. Between the winters of 2011 and 2016, stringent emission control measures resulted in a 21 % decrease in mean mass concentrations of PM2.5 in Beijing, with 7 fewer haze days per winter on average. Given the overestimation of PM2.5 by the model, the effectiveness of stringent emission control measures might have been slightly overstated. With fixed emissions, meteorological conditions over the study period would have led to an increase in haze in Beijing, but the strict emission control measures have suppressed the unfavorable influences of the recent climate. The unfavorable meteorological conditions are attributed to the weakening of the East Asia winter monsoon associated particularly with an increase in pressure associated with the Aleutian Low. VL - 20 UR - https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/20/1497/2020/acp-20-1497-2020.html IS - 3 N1 - View Research Brief ER -