Persistent high PM2.5 pollution driven by unfavorable meteorological conditions during the COVID-19 lockdown period in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China

Sulaymon, Ishaq Dimeji; Zhang, Yuanxun; Hopke, Philip K.; Hu, Jianlin; Zhang, Yang; Li, Lin; Mei, Xiaodong; Gong, Kangjia; Shi, Zhihao; Zhao, Bin; Zhao, Fangxin

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2021.111186

Title: Persistent high PM_2.5 pollution driven by unfavorable meteorological conditions during the COVID-19 lockdown period in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China

Journal Article · Tue Apr 27 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Environmental Research

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.111186· OSTI ID:1809049

^[1]; Zhang, Yuanxun ^[2];

^[3]; Hu, Jianlin ^[4]; Zhang, Yang ^[1]; Li, Lin ^[4]; Mei, Xiaodong ^[1]; Gong, Kangjia ^[4]; Shi, Zhihao ^[4]; Zhao, Bin ^[5];

^[1]

Univ. of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)
Univ. of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China); Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Xiamen (China)
Clarkson Univ., Potsdam, NY (United States); Univ. of Rochester, NY (United States)
Nanjing Univ. of Science and Technology (China)
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Lockdown measures to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic in China halted most nonessential activities on January 23, 2020. Despite significant reductions in anthropogenic emissions, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region still experienced high air pollution concentrations. In this work, employing two emissions reduction scenarios, the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model was used to investigate the PM_2.5 concentrations change in this region. The model using the scenario (C3) with greater traffic reductions performed better compared to the observed PM_2.5. Compared with the no reductions base-case (scenario C1), PM_2.5 reductions with scenario C3 were 2.70, 2.53, 2.90, 2.98, 3.30, 2.81, 2.82, 2.98, 2.68, and 2.83 µg/m³ in Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Baoding, Cangzhou, Chengde, Handan, Hengshui, Tangshan, and Xingtai, respectively. During high-pollution days in scenario C3, the percentage reductions in PM_2.5 concentrations in Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Baoding, Cangzhou, Chengde, Handan, Hengshui, Tangshan, and Xingtai were 3.76, 3.54, 3.28, 3.22, 3.57, 3.56, 3.47, 6.10, 3.61, and 3.67%, respectively. However, significant increases caused by unfavorable meteorological conditions counteracted the emissions reduction effects resulting in high air pollution in BTH region during the lockdown period. This study shows that effective air pollution control strategies incorporating these results are urgently required in BTH to avoid severe pollution.

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Research Organization:: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); National Key Research and Development Program of China

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830; 41877310; 2016YFC0503600

OSTI ID:: 1809049

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA-162783

Journal Information:: Environmental Research, Vol. 198; ISSN 0013-9351

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Persistent high PM2.5 pollution driven by unfavorable meteorological conditions during the COVID-19 lockdown period in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China

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Title: Persistent high PM_2.5 pollution driven by unfavorable meteorological conditions during the COVID-19 lockdown period in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China