The Occurrence of Heavy Air Pollution during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Beijing, China: Roles of Emission Reduction, Meteorological Conditions, and Regional Transport

Xiao Yan, Aijun Shi, Jingyuan Cao, Tingting Li, Xuesong Sun, Rui Zhang, Xionghui Qiu, Yanxue Li, Miao Liang, Miao Lv, Chunlan Liu and Jing Wei
Additional contact information
Xiao Yan: National Engineering Research Center of Urban Environmental Pollution Control, Beijing Municipal Research Institute of Environmental Protection, Beijing 100037, China
Aijun Shi: Beijing Vehicle Emission Management Center, Beijing 100176, China
Jingyuan Cao: College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
Tingting Li: National Engineering Research Center of Urban Environmental Pollution Control, Beijing Municipal Research Institute of Environmental Protection, Beijing 100037, China
Xuesong Sun: National Engineering Research Center of Urban Environmental Pollution Control, Beijing Municipal Research Institute of Environmental Protection, Beijing 100037, China
Rui Zhang: National Engineering Research Center of Urban Environmental Pollution Control, Beijing Municipal Research Institute of Environmental Protection, Beijing 100037, China
Xionghui Qiu: Institute of Transport Energy and Environment, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Yanxue Li: State Grid Integrated Energy Planning, Design and Research Institute, Beijing 100052, China
Miao Liang: Meteorological Observation Center, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing 100081, China
Miao Lv: CEPEC Talroad Technology CO., Ltd, Beijing 100085, China
Chunlan Liu: National Engineering Research Center of Urban Environmental Pollution Control, Beijing Municipal Research Institute of Environmental Protection, Beijing 100037, China
Jing Wei: Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Iowa Technology Institute, Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 21, 1-12

Abstract: To prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and mitigate the epidemic risk, strict lockdown measures were implemented in Beijing during the quarantine period, significantly reducing human activities. However, severe air pollution episodes occurred frequently in Beijing. To explore the occurrence of severe air pollution during the quarantine period, the impacts of emission reductions, meteorological conditions, and regional transport on heavy air pollution were individually evaluated using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. Observations showed that the more unfavorable meteorological conditions which occurred during the pandemic as compared to the corresponding 2019 levels, including higher temperature, relative humidity, and frequency of strong southerly winds, and lower HPBL, led to an increase in PM 2.5 concentrations. The model results also showed that the meteorological conditions in February 2020 favored PM 2.5 formation. The PM 2.5 concentrations were mainly dominated by regional transport, which became more significant in the quarantine period than in 2019, suggesting the importance of joint control on regional sources for reducing heavy air pollution. This study highlights that, although the emissions in Beijing and surrounding regions were largely reduced during the quarantine period, severe air pollution in Beijing did not reduce due to the unfavorable meteorological conditions.

Keywords: heavy air pollution; COVID-19; meteorological conditions; regional transport (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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