Special Issue "Air Pollution Control and Sustainable Development"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Air, Climate Change and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 March 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Weixin Yang
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Guest Editor
Fudan Development Institute, Fudan University, China; Business School, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, China
Interests: environmental management; sustainable development
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Guanghui Yuan
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Guest Editor
School of Information Management and Engineering & Fintech Research institute, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, China
Interests: system modeling; information economy; data mining; algorithm design
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Yunpeng Yang
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Guest Editor
Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Interests: environmental modeling; environmental information system

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The atmosphere is one of the key bases for human survival and development. During the rapid economic growth and remarkable pace of global industrialization, massive amounts of fossil fuels including coal, petroleum, and natural gas have been consumed. The whole world—especially the developing countries—is facing a growing issue of air pollution.

Air pollution has caused a great threat to the world, especially the developing countries. On the one hand, particles with diameter under 10 (so-called inhalable particles PM10) can enter the bronchus in the human lower respiratory tract—especially particles with diameter under 2.5  (PM2.5) which can enter the alveoli in human lungs. When such particles (PM2.5) reach human lungs, they attach themselves to the alveoli and stay within the human body for years. They can even travel to other organs of the human body through blood circulation and therefore could cause great damage to people’s health. In China, due to the huge population and planning layout in large and medium-sized cities, the cities have low tolerance in terms of air pollution. According to a study lasting two decades, in the northern part of Huaihe River which relies heavily on coal-fired power, the average life expectancy of people is 5.52 years shorter than that of those in southern areas.

On the other hand, air pollution has also posed a great threat to the sustainable development of the world. The dust and fume contained in waste gases seriously impact agricultural and industrial production as well as transportation. Hazardous substances such as SO2 and NO2 become acid deposition and cause damage and erosion to soil, vegetables, industrial plants, and other buildings. Moreover, the particles in waste gas directly and indirectly cause climatic effects, and result in an imbalance in solar irradiance between the Earth and the Sun so that drought regions will suffer more drought while flood-prone regions will suffer more floods. As a result, it will cause abnormal atmospheric circulation both horizontally and vertically, and even cause irreversible climate change.

In the face of the serious consequences of air pollution, governments have adopted various policies and measures to control and mitigate the adverse effects of air pollution, including China’s “Blue Sky Defense War” action plan, India’s “National Clean Air Program”, and Brazil’s new “Air Quality standards (PI-1, PI-2, PI-3, PF)”. These policies have played a positive role in improving air quality and promoting sustainable development. However, some problems have also been exposed in the implementation process.

Therefore, we organized this Special Issue to discuss air pollution control and sustainable development in the world, including but not limited to the serious situation of air pollution faced by the world, the effectiveness of current air pollution control policies and measures, and how to improve these policies to better achieve sustainable development.

Submissions for this Special Issue could relate, but are not limited, to the following topics:

  • Main sources and characteristics of air pollution;
  • The impact of air pollution on sustainable development;
  • The formulation mechanism of air pollution control policies;
  • The effects of air pollution control policies and measures;
  • How to improve current air pollution control policies for the promotion of sustainable development;
  • The cooperation among governments to control air pollution and promote sustainable development.

Prof. Dr. Weixin Yang
Prof. Dr. Guanghui Yuan
Prof. Dr. Yunpeng Yang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • air pollution
  • air pollution control
  • sustainable development
  • control policy

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

Article
Evaluation of PM2.5 Particulate Matter and Noise Pollution in Tikrit University Based on GIS and Statistical Modeling
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9571; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179571 - 25 Aug 2021
Viewed by 227
Abstract
In this paper, we assess the extent of environmental pollution in terms of PM2.5 particulate matter and noise in Tikrit University, located in Tikrit City of Iraq. The geographic information systems (GIS) technology was used for data analysis. Moreover, we built two multiple [...] Read more.
In this paper, we assess the extent of environmental pollution in terms of PM2.5 particulate matter and noise in Tikrit University, located in Tikrit City of Iraq. The geographic information systems (GIS) technology was used for data analysis. Moreover, we built two multiple linear regression models (based on two different data inputs) for the prediction of PM2.5 particulate matter, which were based on the explanatory variables of maximum and minimum noise, temperature, and humidity. Furthermore, the maximum prediction coefficient R2 of the best models was 0.82, with a validated (via testing data) coefficient R2 of 0.94. From the actual total distribution of PM2.5 particulate values ranging from 35–58 μg/m3, our best model managed to predict values between 34.9–60.6 μg/m3. At the end of the study, the overall air quality was determined between moderate and harmful. In addition, the overall detected noise ranged from 49.30–85.79 dB, which inevitably designated the study area to be categorized as a noisy zone, despite being an educational institution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution Control and Sustainable Development)
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Article
Haze Pollution Levels, Spatial Spillover Influence, and Impacts of the Digital Economy: Empirical Evidence from China
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9076; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169076 - 13 Aug 2021
Viewed by 265
Abstract
With the development of digital technologies such as the Internet and digital industries such as e-commerce, the digital economy has become a new form of economic and social development, which has brought forth a new perspective for environmental governance, energy conservation, and emission [...] Read more.
With the development of digital technologies such as the Internet and digital industries such as e-commerce, the digital economy has become a new form of economic and social development, which has brought forth a new perspective for environmental governance, energy conservation, and emission reduction. Based on data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2018, this study applies the space and threshold models to empirically examine the digital economy’s influence on haze pollution and its spatial spillover. Furthermore, it investigates the spatial diffusion effect of regional digital economic development and haze pollution by constructing a spatial weight matrix. Subsequently, an instrumental variable robustness test is performed. Results indicate the following: (1) Haze pollution has spatial spillover effects and high emission aggregation characteristics, with haze pollution in neighbouring provinces significantly aggravating pollution levels in the focal province. (2) China’s digital economy has positively impacted haze pollution, with digital economic development having a significant effect (i.e., most prominent in eastern China) on reducing haze pollution. (3) Changing the energy structure and supporting innovation can restrain haze pollution, and the digital economy can reduce the path mechanism of haze pollution through the mediating effect of an advanced industrial structure. It shows a non-linear characteristic that the influence of haze reduction continues to weaken. Thus, policymakers should include the digital economy as a mechanism for ecologically sustainable development in haze pollution control. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution Control and Sustainable Development)
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Article
The Adverse Impact of Air Pollution on China’s Economic Growth
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9056; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169056 - 12 Aug 2021
Viewed by 344
Abstract
This study empirically evaluates the impact of air pollution on China’s economic growth, based on a province-level sample for the period 2002–2017. Air pollution is measured by the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and economic growth is measured by the [...] Read more.
This study empirically evaluates the impact of air pollution on China’s economic growth, based on a province-level sample for the period 2002–2017. Air pollution is measured by the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and economic growth is measured by the annual growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. A panel data fixed-effects regression model is built, and the instrumental variables estimation method is utilized for quantitative analyses. The study reports a significant negative impact of air pollution on the macroeconomic growth of China. According to our instrumental variables estimation, holding other factors constant, if the concentration of PM2.5 increases by 1%, then the GDP per capita growth rate will decline by 0.05818 percentage points. In addition, it is found that the adverse effect of atmospheric pollution is heterogeneous across different regions. The effect is stronger in the eastern region and in provinces with smaller state-owned enterprise shares, fewer governmental expenditures for public health services, and fewer medical resources. The study results reveal that air pollution poses a substantial threat to the sustainable economic growth of China. Taking actions to abate air pollution will generate great economic benefits, especially for those regions which are heavily damaged by pollution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution Control and Sustainable Development)
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Article
Study on Coupled Relationship between Urban Air Quality and Land Use in Lanzhou, China
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7724; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147724 - 10 Jul 2021
Viewed by 459
Abstract
The intensification of global urbanization has exacerbated the negative impact of atmospheric environmental factors in urban areas, thus threatening the sustainability of future urban development. In order to ensure the sustainability of urban atmospheric environments, exploring the changing laws of urban air quality, [...] Read more.
The intensification of global urbanization has exacerbated the negative impact of atmospheric environmental factors in urban areas, thus threatening the sustainability of future urban development. In order to ensure the sustainability of urban atmospheric environments, exploring the changing laws of urban air quality, identifying highly polluted areas in cities, and studying the relationship between air quality and land use have become issues of great concern. Based on AQI data from 340 air quality monitoring stations and urban land use data, this paper uses inverse distance weight (IDW), Getis-Ord Gi*, and a negative binomial regression model to discuss the spatiotemporal variation of air quality in the main urban area of Lanzhou and its relationship with urban land use. The results show that urban air quality has characteristics of temporal and spatial differentiation and spatially has characteristics of agglomeration of cold and hot spots. There is a close relationship between urban land use and air quality. Industrial activities, traffic pollution, and urban construction activities are the most important factors affecting urban air quality. Green spaces can reduce urban pollution. The impact of land use on air quality has a seasonal effect. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution Control and Sustainable Development)
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Article
A Methodology for Designing Short-Term Stationary Air Quality Campaigns with Mobile Laboratories Using Different Possible Allocation Criteria
Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7481; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137481 - 05 Jul 2021
Viewed by 320
Abstract
Air quality monitoring and control are key issues for environmental assessment and management in order to protect public health and the environment. Local and central authorities have developed strategies and tools to manage environmental protection, which, for air quality, consist of monitoring networks [...] Read more.
Air quality monitoring and control are key issues for environmental assessment and management in order to protect public health and the environment. Local and central authorities have developed strategies and tools to manage environmental protection, which, for air quality, consist of monitoring networks with fixed and portable instrumentation and mathematical models. This study develops a methodology for designing short-term air quality campaigns with mobile laboratories (laboratories fully housed within or transported by a vehicle and maintained in a fixed location for a period of time) as a decision support system for environmental management and protection authorities. In particular, the study provides a methodology to identify: (i) the most representative locations to place mobile laboratories and (ii) the best time period to carry out the measurements in the case of short-term air quality campaigns. The approach integrates atmospheric dispersion models and allocation algorithms specifically developed for optimizing the measuring campaigns. The methodology is organized in two phases, each of them divided into several steps. Fourteen allocation algorithms dedicated to three type of receptors (population, vegetation and physical cultural heritage) have been proposed. The methodology has been applied to four short-term air quality campaigns in the Emilia-Romagna region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution Control and Sustainable Development)
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Article
Association between Atrial Fibrillation Incidence and Temperatures, Wind Scale and Air Quality: An Exploratory Study for Shanghai and Kunming
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 5247; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13095247 - 07 May 2021
Viewed by 469
Abstract
As a common cardiovascular disease, atrial fibrillation has the characteristics of high morbidity, high disability, and high fatality rates, seriously endangering human health and sustainability. Some research has confirmed that environmental factors are related to the risk of illness and death from cardiovascular [...] Read more.
As a common cardiovascular disease, atrial fibrillation has the characteristics of high morbidity, high disability, and high fatality rates, seriously endangering human health and sustainability. Some research has confirmed that environmental factors are related to the risk of illness and death from cardiovascular diseases (including atrial fibrillation), while there is still little comparison on the situation of the two cities in China. This research uses medical data in Shanghai and Kunming establishing, through two-step research, logistic models to compare the impacts on atrial fibrillation incidence to figure out the association between environmental factors (including air pollution, weather, temperature, and wind scales) and atrial fibrillation. Finally, this research shows that environmental impacts on atrial fibrillation prevalence have generality, regionality, and lagging characteristics. The result is significant for atrial fibrillation patients and provides a reliable medical theory basis for nursing measures. Besides, this research provides a prospective method of offering early warning for potential atrial fibrillation patients, helping to maintain human beings’ sustainable development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution Control and Sustainable Development)
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Article
Joint Governance Regions and Major Prevention Periods of PM2.5 Pollution in China Based on Wavelet Analysis and Concentration-Weighted Trajectory
Sustainability 2020, 12(5), 2019; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12052019 - 06 Mar 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 650
Abstract
China has made some progress in controlling PM2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤2.5 μm) pollution, but there are still some key areas that need further strengthening. Considering that excessive prevention and control efforts affect economic development, this paper combined [...] Read more.
China has made some progress in controlling PM2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤2.5 μm) pollution, but there are still some key areas that need further strengthening. Considering that excessive prevention and control efforts affect economic development, this paper combined an empirical orthogonal function, a continuous wavelet transform, and a concentration-weighted trajectory method to study joint regional governance during key pollution periods to provide suggestions for the efficient control of PM2.5. The results from our panel of data of PM2.5 in China from 2016 to 2018 could be decomposed into two modes. In the first mode, the pollution center was in central Shaanxi Province, and the main eruption period was from November to January of the following year. As the center of this region, Xi’an should cooperate with the four cities in eastern Sichuan (Nanchong, Guangan, Bazhong, and Dazhou) to control PM2.5, since the eruption occurred in this area. Moreover, governance should last for at least two cycles, where one cycle is at least 23 days. The pollution center of the second mode was in the western part of Xinjiang. Therefore, after the prevention and control efforts during the first mode are completed, the regional city of Kashgar should continue to build a joint governance zone for PM2.5 along the Tianshan mountains in the east, focusing on prevention and control over two cycles (where one cycle is 28 days). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution Control and Sustainable Development)
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Article
Research on Air Pollution Control in China: From the Perspective of Quadrilateral Evolutionary Games
Sustainability 2020, 12(5), 1756; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051756 - 27 Feb 2020
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 1097
Abstract
By constructing a quadrilateral evolutionary game model involving the central government, local governments, polluting enterprises, and the public, this paper attempts to comprehensively analyze the development and implementation of China’s air pollution control policies. Through the quadrilateral evolutionary game model, this paper systematically [...] Read more.
By constructing a quadrilateral evolutionary game model involving the central government, local governments, polluting enterprises, and the public, this paper attempts to comprehensively analyze the development and implementation of China’s air pollution control policies. Through the quadrilateral evolutionary game model, this paper systematically studies the evolutionary stable strategies of the four parties involved and obtains 27 equilibrium points, strategy sets, and their corresponding policy performance with the help of the four-dimensional dynamic system. The research results show that there are five equilibrium points that represent the least ideal scenarios, 14 equilibrium points that represent the less than ideal scenarios, four equilibrium points that represent the ideal scenarios, three equilibrium points that represent the more than ideal scenarios, and one equilibrium point that represents the most ideal scenarios. By analyzing the eight equilibrium points that represent the ideal, more than ideal and most ideal scenarios, especially the four stable points, this paper has obtained the conditions as well as policy implications of the four stable points in China’s air pollution control campaign. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution Control and Sustainable Development)
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Article
Did Haze Pollution Harm the Quality of Economic Development?—An Empirical Study Based on China’s PM2.5 Concentrations
Sustainability 2020, 12(4), 1607; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041607 - 21 Feb 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 862
Abstract
Based on the PM2.5 haze data of China’s provinces between 2004–2016, this paper systematically explores the impact of haze pollution on the quality of China’s economic development, as well as its transmission mechanisms. This is achieved by measuring the quality of economic development [...] Read more.
Based on the PM2.5 haze data of China’s provinces between 2004–2016, this paper systematically explores the impact of haze pollution on the quality of China’s economic development, as well as its transmission mechanisms. This is achieved by measuring the quality of economic development with total factor productivity. Furthermore, this paper innovatively uses precipitation as an instrumental variable for mitigating the endogeneity of the haze pollution variable, by which the impact of haze pollution on the quality of China’s economic development is estimated within the framework of two-stage least squares. It is found that: the haze pollution has degraded the quality of China’s economic development significantly; the labor supply loss, counter urbanization and human capital disruption are the three major transmission channels through which haze pollution affects the quality of China’s economic development; strengthening government’s environmental management is effective in mitigating the adverse impact of haze pollution on the economic development quality; and that China’s unique fiscal decentralization system has exacerbated the negative economic effect of haze pollution. The policy implications of this paper are as follows: Improvement of economic development quality is a prerequisite for the transition of economic development mode; and the governmental management of haze is conducive to enhancing the quality of atmospheric environment and economic development, and to promoting the high-quality development of the Chinese economy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution Control and Sustainable Development)

Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.


 

 

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