Characterizing spatiotemporal patterns of air pollution in China: A multiscale landscape approach

China’s tremendous economic growth in the past three decades has resulted in a number of environmental problems, including the deterioration of air quality. In particular, fine particulate matter (PM) has received increasing attention from scientists, governmental agencies, and the public due to its adverse impacts on human health. Monitoring the spatiotemporal patterns of air pollution is important for understanding its transport mechanisms and making effective environmental policies. The main goal of this study, therefore, was to quantify the spatial patterns and movement of air pollution in China at annual, daily, and hourly scales, so that the underlying drivers could be better understood. We used remote sensing data and landscape metrics together to capture spatiotemporal signatures of air pollution. Our results show that, at the annual scale, PM_2.5 concentrations in China increased gradually from 1999 to 2011, with the highest concentrations occurring in the North China Plain as well as the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Basin. The total population affected by air pollution was about 975 million in 2010 (about 70% of China’s population). Our more detailed analysis on daily and hourly scale further revealed that a heavy air pollution event occurred, expanded, aggregated, and finally dissipated over Northern China during Oct. 6–12, 2014, suggesting that the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region a center of severe pollution. Crop stalks burning in agricultural areas in this region seemed to be one of the leading drivers, along with coal burning and transportation emissions. Our study demonstrates that spatial pattern analysis with landscape metrics is effective for analyzing source-sink dynamics of air pollution and its potential drivers. Our findings of major source areas and movement trajectories should be useful for making air pollution control policies to improve China’s air quality.     

Assessment of the dynamics of urban surface temperatures and air pollution related to COVID-19 in a densely populated City environment in East Java

The COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the whole world has caused losses in various aspects. Several countries have implemented lockdowns to curb the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused death. However, for developing countries such as Indonesia, it is not suitable for lockdown because it considers the economic recession. Instead, the Large-scale Social Restrictions (LSSR) regulation is applied, the same as the partial lockdown. Thus, it is hypothesized that implementing LSSR that limits anthropogenic activities can reduce heat emissions and air pollution. Utilization of remote sensing data such as Terra-MODIS LST and Sentinel-5P images to investigate short-term trends (i.e., comparison between baseline year and COVID-19 year) in surface temperature, Surface Urban Heat Islands Intensity (SUHII), and air pollution such as NO₂, CO, and O₃ in Malang City and Surabaya City, East Java Province. Spatial downscaling of LST using the Random Forest Regression technique was also carried out to transform the spatial resolution of the Terra-MODIS LST image to make it feasible on a city scale. Raster re-gridding was also implemented to refine the Sentinel-5P spatial resolution. The accuracy of LST spatial downscaling results is quite satisfactory in both cities. Surface temperatures in both cities slightly decreased (below 1 °C) during LSSR was applied (P < 0.05). SUHII in both cities experienced a slight increase in both cities during LSSR. NO₂ gas was reduced significantly (P < 0.05) in Malang City (∼38%) and Surabaya City (∼28%) during LSSR phase due to reduced vehicle traffic and restrictions on anthropogenic activities. However, CO and O₃ gases did not indicate anomaly during LSSR. Moreover, this study provides insight into the correlation between SUHII change and the distribution of air pollution in both cities during the pandemic year. Air temperature and wind speed are also added as meteorological factors to examine their effect on air pollution. The proposed models of spatial downscaling LST and re-gridding satellite-based air pollution can help decision-makers control local air quality in the long and short term in the future. In addition, this model can also be applied to other ecological research, especially the input variables for ecological spatial modeling.     

The spatial correlation and interaction between manufacturing agglomeration and environmental pollution

Using statistical data from 285 cities in China, this paper studies the spatial correlation and interaction between manufacturing agglomeration and environmental pollution. Using a widely used spatial correlation index, bivariate Moran's I, we first estimate the spatial correlation between manufacturing agglomeration and environmental pollution. We show that there is significant spatial correlation between them, and distinct patterns of local spatial concentration are identified. Then, we use a spatial simultaneous equations (SSE) model to analyze the interaction between manufacturing agglomeration and environmental pollution. We show that manufacturing agglomeration aggravates environmental pollution, while environmental pollution restrains manufacturing agglomeration. In addition, manufacturing agglomeration and environmental pollution in any one city can be affected by manufacturing agglomeration and environmental pollution in surrounding cities through spatial spillover. Finally, we put forward specific suggestions based on the conclusions for more sustainable development.     

基于环境库兹涅茨曲线的我国大气污染防治重点区域环境空气质量与经济增长关系研究

改革开放以来,中国经济迅猛发展,但大气污染等环境问题日益突出。进入21世纪,我国通过颁布实施多项大气污染防治政策,将京津冀及周边地区、长三角地区、珠三角地区等大气污染较严重的区域划定为重点区域,针对性制定治污措施和实施减排工程,努力推动区域环境空气质量改善。基于2000-2019年我国31个省（自治区、直辖市）（以下简称31个省份）GDP,以及SO₂、PM₁₀、NO₂三项大气污染物浓度数据,利用环境库兹涅茨曲线（EKC,Environmental Kuznets Curve）模型,对31个省份和京津冀及周边地区、长三角地区、珠三角地区的经济增长情况、大气污染物浓度演变以及二者之间的关系进行了系统全面的分析评估。研究结果显示：（1）近年来实施的各项大气污染防治政策,特别是2013年以来颁布实施的《大气污染防治行动计划》《打赢蓝天保卫战三年行动计划》,推动环境空气质量改善的同时,促进了经济发展与环境保护长期关系协调性逐步增强,除NO₂浓度呈U型外,31个省份SO₂浓度、PM₁₀浓度与人均GDP的EKC曲线呈倒U型和倒N型,并处于快速下降阶段。（2）京津冀及周边地区SO₂浓度与人均GDP呈倒U型,且处于快速下降阶段;PM₁₀和NO₂浓度均呈现U型关系,且均处于上升期。（3）长三角地区SO₂、PM₁₀浓度与人均GDP呈现倒U型和U型,但均处于下降阶段;NO₂浓度与人均GDP无相关关系。（4）珠三角地区SO₂、PM₁₀和NO₂浓度与人均GDP均呈现倒U型关系,且均处于下降阶段。为此,建议"十四五"期间我国政府要继续实施新一轮的大气污染防治行动计划,聚焦机动车NO_x污染管控,大力推动NO₂浓度稳步下降,以实现我国环境空气质量持续改善,为统筹经济高质量发展和生态环境高水平保护奠定坚实基础。     

我国典型城市空气质量演变及其调控——以深圳市2000-2017年为例

目前国内外许多城市面临严重的空气污染问题,严重制约城市发展、影响人体健康。同时,部分城市（如深圳）空气质量已经达到并保持在良好的水平。探究这些城市空气质量演变过程及其调控,可为我国大量仍面临严重空气污染问题的城市提供参考和借鉴。以深圳市为案例,利用环境质量公报数据和统计年鉴数据,通过分析多个社会经济因子与典型污染物的相关关系,探究其空气质量演变特征与调控经验。结果表明,深圳市各类型空气污染物与城市社会经济发展均符合EKC模型假说,但不同污染物所处阶段不同。颗粒物、SO₂和NO₂均处于下降阶段,而O₃目前处于高水平平稳阶段。总结深圳市空气质量改善历程及调控措施,发现主要有两大方面：宏观上严格把控;微观上精准治理。宏观上,重点放在产业结构和能源结构的快速调整上,对于空气质量的改善起到了非常明显的作用。而在微观精细化的管理上,对于空气污染的治理政策要具有持续性、精准性和及时性。当下,针对首要的O₃污染问题,深圳市应重点关注城市人为排放VOCs和植物释放VOCs对O₃生成的影响,以及城市热环境对O₃浓度的影响。     

Consequences of human modification of the global nitrogen cycle

The demand for more food is increasing fertilizer and land use, and the demand for more energy is increasing fossil fuel combustion, leading to enhanced losses of reactive nitrogen (N_r) to the environment. Many thresholds for human and ecosystem health have been exceeded owing to N_r pollution, including those for drinking water (nitrates), air quality (smog, particulate matter, ground-level ozone), freshwater eutrophication, biodiversity loss, stratospheric ozone depletion, climate change and coastal ecosystems (dead zones). Each of these environmental effects can be magnified by the ‘nitrogen cascade’: a single atom of N_r can trigger a cascade of negative environmental impacts in sequence. Here, we provide an overview of the impact of N_r on the environment and human health, including an assessment of the magnitude of different environmental problems, and the relative importance of N_r as a contributor to each problem. In some cases, N_r loss to the environment is the key driver of effects (e.g. terrestrial and coastal eutrophication, nitrous oxide emissions), whereas in some other situations nitrogen represents a key contributor exacerbating a wider problem (e.g. freshwater pollution, biodiversity loss). In this way, the central role of nitrogen can remain hidden, even though it actually underpins many trans-boundary pollution problems.     

城市群空气污染综合评估范式与应用——以京津冀城市群PM2.5污染为例

城市群已成为中国城市发展的主要形式,城市化发展引发的一系列环境污染问题成为目前的研究重点之一,尤其是近年来明显的空气污染问题。由于传统的针对某一城市地区进行细致研究,难以解决在城市聚集的城市群下形成的区域性空气污染来源和影响机制等问题,使区域性空气污染造成的负面效应难以评估。通过构建综合评估模型范式,并运用空间分析,对京津冀168个区县2000年,2005年,2010年,2015年PM_2.5人口暴露风险、人类活动对PM_2.5的贡献、以及5种土地利用类型的"源汇"特征进行了实证研究。结果发现:(1)2000—2015年,京津冀城市群的人口暴露风险、空气污染分布、综合评估结果总体呈现北低南高的现象。(2)2000—2015年,各县域的人口暴露风险和空气污染的程度、范围呈上升趋势。不同的土地利用类型具有不同的源汇特征,且对污染的贡献不同。本研究通过综合评估模型范式对城市群或区域城市发展与空气质量的权衡关系模式开展量化解析,为城市的可持续发展提供了科学的范式和初步的实证示范。     

产业集聚对雾霾污染与生态效率的非线性影响及溢出效应

新常态背景下,“降霾增效”是促进城市协调可持续发展的重要保障。基于2008—2017年我国269个地级市面板数据,利用ArcGIS空间分析、EBM-DEA、空间杜宾等模型,探究雾霾污染与生态效率的时空演化格局及产业集聚对其非线性影响及空间溢出效应。结果显示：(1)我国城市雾霾污染具有“块状”与“集群分布”特征,并呈现以京津冀城市群为中心的“核心-边缘”扩散模式;城市生态效率呈东部>中部>西部依次递减态势,其H-H型城市主要分布在东部沿海地区;(2)产业集聚是“双刃剑”,其对雾霾污染与生态效率的影响存在显著的“U”型关系,即产业集聚每提升1%,雾霾污染和生态效率相应降低0.1388%和0.1409%,产业集聚平方项每提升1%则相应提升0.0188%和0.0113%;(3)产业集聚进一步提升对本地与邻近城市的雾霾污染具有较强的正向空间溢出效应,地方政府应采取联防联控的污染治理策略,构建长效环境治理合作机制;(4)产业集聚规模对雾霾污染和生态效率的影响表现出一定的区域异质性,应设计差异化的产业发展策略,为城市“降霾增效”提供支撑;通过重构权重矩阵、替换核心解释变量与设置滞后变量,...     

Water Footprint of Cereals and Vegetables for the Beijing Market

Beijing is situated in water‐scarce northern China, where there is a history of policies aimed at constraining local agricultural water use to meet the increasing urban water demand. This has led to a change in local crop production and subsequent effects in terms of the importation of cereals and vegetables grown in other parts of China. The dilemma is that local policies designed to improve Beijing's water resources situation may have the unintended consequence of increasing water stress in other regions. In this article, life cycle assessment approaches were used to model both consumptive and degradative water use for the major cereals and vegetables consumed in Beijing, enabling comparison of local and imported supplies. In the Beijing region, cropping cereals rather than intensive vegetables in greenhouses could reduce local blue water consumption by 7,216 cubic meters per hectare per year (m³ ha^?1 yr^?1) and nitrogen pollution by 45 kg ha^?1 yr^?1. However, depending on how the local food shortfall is balanced by imported food, shifts in cropping pattern in Beijing have the potential to cause either an improvement or exacerbation of the nationwide water stress situation (e.g., ?42% to 4% for water scarcity footprint). As such, local policy making regarding agricultural land and water use needs to consider the wider food production context. This situation in Beijing is likely to be representative of the challenge facing many of the world's large and mega‐sized cities, where a sustainable means of increasing food supply must be found.     

Impacts of tropospheric ozone and climate change on net primary productivity and net carbon exchange of China's forest ecosystems

Aim We investigated how ozone pollution and climate change/variability have interactively affected net primary productivity (NPP) and net carbon exchange (NCE) across China's forest ecosystem in the past half century. Location Continental China. Methods Using the dynamic land ecosystem model (DLEM) in conjunction with 10‐km‐resolution gridded historical data sets (tropospheric O₃ concentrations, climate variability/change, and other environmental factors such as land‐cover/land‐use change (LCLUC), increasing CO₂ and nitrogen deposition), we conducted nine simulation experiments to: (1) investigate the temporo‐spatial patterns of NPP and NCE in China's forest ecosystems from 1961–2005; and (2) quantify the effects of tropospheric O₃ pollution alone or in combination with climate variability and other environmental stresses on forests' NPP and NCE. Results China's forests acted as a carbon sink during 1961–2005 as a result of the combined effects of O₃, climate, CO₂, nitrogen deposition and LCLUC. However, simulated results indicated that elevated O₃ caused a 7.7% decrease in national carbon storage, with O₃‐induced reductions in NCE (Pg C year^?1) ranging from 0.4–43.1% among different forest types. Sensitivity experiments showed that climate change was the dominant factor in controlling changes in temporo‐spatial patterns of annual NPP. The combined negative effects of O₃ pollution and climate change on NPP and NCE could be largely offset by the positive fertilization effects of nitrogen deposition and CO₂. Main conclusions In the future, tropospheric O₃ should be taken into account in order to fully understand the variations of carbon sequestration capacity of forests and assess the vulnerability of forest ecosystems to climate change and air pollution. Reducing air pollution in China is likely to increase the resilience of forests to climate change. This paper offers the first estimate of how prevention of air pollution can help to increase forest productivity and carbon sequestration in China's forested ecosystems.     

华北平原土地利用/覆盖对CO空间分布的调控作用

CO不仅是中国主要的空气污染物之一,还是温室效应的贡献者。农业用地每年消耗了大量的CO通量,土地利用/覆盖格局对于调控CO空间分布发挥了较大的作用。针对土地利用/覆盖调控CO空间分布开展研究,以华北平原为例揭示人类活动对CO空间异质性的影响。研究发现2010至2020年华北平原CO排放量由4964×10⁴ t降低至2683×10⁴ t,大部分耕地CO浓度由90 t/km²下降至45 t/km²以下。CO浓度空间集聚程度呈现先降低后升高趋势,Moran′s I指数由0.25增加至0.41。经济发展迅速的地区CO污染较为严重,北京和周边城市形成了CO污染高-高集聚区,周口和淮北等城市则形成了低-低集聚区。总体来看,CO浓度呈低-低集聚分布的区域不断扩大,反映出CO减排措施已经初见效果。研究表明土地利用/覆盖在类型与结构方面的差异影响了CO的排放、扩散以及氧化消耗,增加了大气CO收支的不确定性,对CO空间分布具有一定的调控作用。通过分析土地利用/覆盖与CO空间分布的关联性,探究土地利用/覆盖及景观格局对区...     

Air Pollution in China: Mapping of Concentrations and Sources

China has recently made available hourly air pollution data from over 1500 sites, including airborne particulate matter (PM), SO₂, NO₂, and O₃. We apply Kriging interpolation to four months of data to derive pollution maps for eastern China. Consistent with prior findings, the greatest pollution occurs in the east, but significant levels are widespread across northern and central China and are not limited to major cities or geologic basins. Sources of pollution are widespread, but are particularly intense in a northeast corridor that extends from near Shanghai to north of Beijing. During our analysis period, 92% of the population of China experienced >120 hours of unhealthy air (US EPA standard), and 38% experienced average concentrations that were unhealthy. China’s population-weighted average exposure to PM_2.5 was 52 μg/m³. The observed air pollution is calculated to contribute to 1.6 million deaths/year in China [0.7–2.2 million deaths/year at 95% confidence], roughly 17% of all deaths in China.     

川渝地区空气质量时空分布格局及影响因素

川渝地区尤其是四川盆地已成为我国空气污染最严重的地区之一,基于2018—2019年川渝地区128个城市站和71个县级站空气质量监测及自然与社会经济数据,采用全局和局部莫兰指数分析了川渝地区空气质量指数(AQI)和不同空气质量分指数(IAQI)的时空格局,并采用偏最小二乘回归(PLSR)从较为宏观的尺度综合分析了川渝地区空气污染的主要驱动因素。研究结果表明：(1)川渝地区空气质量整体为良,主要污染物为O₃,其次为PM₁₀和PM_2.5。盆地区与高原区的主要污染物分别为PM_2.5和O₃;(2)AQI及PM_2.5、PM₁₀、NO₂呈“U”型变化,春冬季最高,夏秋季最低;O₃则在内部两区域都大致呈倒“U”型变化,但峰值分布时间与持续时长明显不同;SO₂和CO年内无明显变化;(3)各污染物具有明显的空间聚集性特征,AQI及PM₁₀、PM_2.5     

Stochastic Modelling of Air Pollution Impacts on Respiratory Infection Risk

The impact of air pollution on people’s health and daily activities in China has recently aroused much attention. By using stochastic differential equations, variation in a 6 year long time series of air quality index (AQI) data, gathered from air quality monitoring sites in Xi’an from 15 November 2010 to 14 November 2016 was studied. Every year the extent of air pollution shifts from being serious to not so serious due to alterations in heat production systems. The distribution of such changes can be predicted by a Bayesian approach and the Gibbs sampler algorithm. The intervals between changes in a sequence indicate when the air pollution becomes increasingly serious. Also, the inflow rate of pollutants during the main pollution periods each year has an increasing trend. This study used a stochastic SEIS model associated with the AQI to explore the impact of air pollution on respiratory infections. Good fits to both the AQI data and the numbers of influenza-like illness cases were obtained by stochastic numerical simulation of the model. Based on the model’s dynamics, the AQI time series and the daily number of respiratory infection cases under various government intervention measures and human protection strategies were forecasted. The AQI data in the last 15 months verified that government interventions on vehicles are effective in controlling air pollution, thus providing numerical support for policy formulation to address the haze crisis.     

Risk knowledge,product knowledge,and brand benefits for purchase intentions: Experiences with air purifiers against city smog in China

The present study is based on the theoretical framework of protective action decision model. This study aims to explain the relationship among the risk knowledge, product knowledge, risk perception, and brand benefits and the consumers’ purchase intentions of a specific air purifier compared with alternative brands. The research context is city smog. Results show that consumers’ risk knowledge and product knowledge significantly affect their purchase of an air purifier brand as well as play a considerable role in predicting their risk perception and in foreseeing their purchase intentions under the influence of the manufacturer's advertising strategies. Furthermore, consumers’ risk perception is a critical psychological factor that has a significantly positive influence on brand's experiential benefits, instead of functional and symbolic benefits. In particular, when comparing with brand's functional and symbolic benefits, the brand's experiential benefits is more attractive to consumers and has a stronger effect on consumers’ air purifier purchase intentions in the context of city smog.     

Relationship between Air Pollutants and Economic Development of the Provincial Capital Cities in China during the Past Decade

With the economic development of China, air pollutants are also growing rapidly in recent decades, especially in big cities of the country. To understand the relationship between economic condition and air pollutants in big cities, we analysed the socioeconomic indictorssuch as Gross Regional Product per capita (GRP per capita), the concentration of air pollutants (PM₁₀, SO₂, NO₂₎ and the air pollution index (API) from 2003 to 2012 in 31 provincial capitals of mainland China. The three main industries had a quadratic correlation with NO₂, but a negative relationship with PM₁₀ and SO₂. The concentration of air pollutants per ten thousand yuan decreased with the multiplying of GRP in the provinical cities. The concentration of air pollutants and API in the provincial capital cities showed a declining trend or inverted-U trend with the rise of GRP per capita, which provided a strong evidence for the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), that the environmental quality first declines, then improves, with the income growth. The results of this research improved our understanding of the alteration of atmospheric quality with the increase of social economy and demonstrated the feasibility of sustainable development for China.     

Community air pollution in Canada: a review and predictions for the 1980s.

The main trends in Canadian air pollution since the national program of surveillance began are reviewed in this paper. In common with the United States, significant improvements in sulfur dioxide and particulate pollution have been recorded in a number of cities after the institution of control measures. However, some areas with a concentration of certain industries still have considerable particulate pollution. Since emission of nitrogen dioxide is increasing in the United States, the consequent photochemical pollution in southern Ontario will probably continue to increase. Nitrogen dioxide concentrations in the air are elevated in some western Canadian cities, presumably because of the presence of plants that burn natural gas to generate electricity and increasing pollution from automobiles. There is increasing concern about community air pollution in cities with large metal-fabricating plants, and community exposure to asbestos fibres is likely to be an important concern in the 1980s.     

Clean air actions in China,PM2.5 exposure,and household medical expenditures: A quasi-experimental study

BackgroundExposure to air pollution, a leading contributor to the global burden of disease, can cause economic losses. Driven by clean air policies, the air quality in China, one of the most polluted countries, has improved rapidly since 2013. This has enabled a unique, quasi-experiment to assess the economic impact of air pollution empirically.Methods and findingsUsing a series of nation-scale longitudinal surveys in 2011, 2013, and 2015, we first examined the questionnaire-based medical expenditure changes before and after the policy intervention for air pollution. Using a state-of-the-art estimator of the historical concentration of particulate matters with diameter less than 2.5 μm (particulate matter (PM)_2.5), we further quantified the association between household medical expenditure and PM_2.5 using mixed-effect models of the repeated measurements from 26,511 households in 126 cities. Regression models suggest a robust linear association between reduced PM_2.5 and saved medical expenditures, since the association did not vary significantly across models with different covariate adjustments, subregions, or subpopulations. Each 10 μg/m³ reduction in PM_2.5 was associated with a saving of 251.6 (95% CI: 30.8, 472.3; p-value = 0.026) Yuan in per capita annual medical expenditure. However, due to limitations in data quality (e.g., self-reported expenditures), and imperfect control for unmeasured confounders or impact from concurrent healthcare reform in China, the causality underlying our findings should be further confirmed or refuted.ConclusionIn this study, we observed that compared with the PM_2.5 reduction in 2013, the PM_2.5 reduction in 2017 was associated with a saving of 552 (95% CI: 68, 1036) Yuan / (person × year), or approximately 736 billion Yuan (equivalent to 111 billion US dollar) per year nationally, which is equivalent to approximately 1% of the national gross domestic product of China.

In this observational study, Tao Xue and colleagues explore associations between medical expenses and changes to clean air policies in China since 2013.     

城市绿化对空气质量的影响研究——以中国27个省会城市为例

城市间绿化程度与空气污染比较及相关差异分析是提出城市环境管理措施的重要前提。选择全国27个主要省会城市,基于网络街景照片测定绿色指数差异,对比空气主要质量指标[空气质量指数(AQI)、细颗粒物(PM_2.5)、可吸入颗粒物(PM₁₀)、二氧化硫(SO_2)、二氧化氮(NO_2)、臭氧(O_3)、一氧化碳(CO)]的基础上,探讨了二者相关关系,旨在为提升环境质量、改善绿化水平提供基础数据。结果表明:(1)济南市和重庆市的绿色指数最高,分别达到是11.70%和11.55%,呼和浩特市和拉萨市城市绿色指数最低,在4%～5%。(2)海口市的空气质量最好,AQI为39.66,郑州市和济南市的空气质量最差,AQI年均值分别为117.34和113.93。但是不同空气指标城市排序间差异较大,比如PM_2.5、PM₁₀、NO_2以及SO_2年平均最低的城市都是海口,拉萨市年平均CO含量最低(0.55 mg·m^-3),哈尔滨市年平均O_3含量最低(77.08μg·m^-3)。(3)相关关系分析发现,增加城市的绿色程度,伴随着空气质量的改善,如沈阳、南宁、合肥等城市;但对于某些城市,则存在明显的正相关,如兰州、昆明、贵阳等城市,这意味着城市越绿伴随着空气污染的加重。尽管大量研究已经表明,城市绿色植被能够起到滞尘降低污染的作用,目前我国主要城市的空气污染程度,仅依靠城市绿化改善已经远远不够,甚至某一些城市绿色植被存在阻碍空气流通的作用。上述研究结果为科学规划城市绿化、提升空气质量提供基础数据支撑。     

Air pollution could drive global dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes

Antibiotic-resistant pathogens pose a significant threat to human health. Several dispersal mechanisms have been described, but transport of both microbes and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) via atmospheric particles has received little attention as a pathway for global dissemination. These atmospheric particles can return to the Earth’s surface via rain or snowfall, and thus promote long-distance spread of ARGs. However, the diversity and abundance of ARGs in fresh snow has not been studied and their potential correlation with particulate air pollution is not well explored. Here, we characterized ARGs in 44 samples of fresh snow from major cities in China, three in North America, and one in Europe, spanning a gradient from pristine to heavily anthropogenically influenced ecosystems. High-throughput qPCR analysis of ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) provided strong indications that dissemination of ARGs in fresh snow could be exacerbated by air pollution, severely increasing the health risks of both air pollution and ARGs. We showed that snowfall did effectively spread ARGs from point sources over the Earth surface. Together our findings urge for better pollution control to reduce the risk of global dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes.Subject terms: Environmental sciences, Air microbiology