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Sustainability
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Greening the Atmosphere: Strategies for Air Pollution and Global Sustainability
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Greening the Atmosphere: Strategies for Air Pollution and Global Sustainability

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 3102

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jian Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Interests: emission inventory; environmental remote sensing technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Shuo Ding

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Engineering, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, China
Interests: atmospheric chemistry; aerosol optical and hygroscopic properties; aerosol-cloud/fog interaction; wet scavenging; CFD modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Air pollution is an important global issue that has a significant impact on climate change and air quality, having detrimental effects on human health. Sustainable development strategies, such as emission reduction measures and green energy transitions, are crucial for air pollution control. However, these sustainable strategies have seen an unbalanced development in the recent several decades. For example, air pollutant emissions in developed countries have decreased dramatically due to environmental measures being implemented, whereas emissions in developing countries have increased substantially due to the rapid expansion of industries and the process of urbanization. The understanding of air pollutant emissions and control measures in different regions are important considerations for strengthening inter-state cooperation and promoting global sustainable development.

Therefore, we proposed a Special Issue on the topic of “Greening the Atmosphere: Strategies for Air Pollution and Global Sustainability” in Sustainability. In this Special Issue, we welcome original research articles and reviews. Research areas may include the following:

  1. Estimation of global air pollutant emissions based on multiple methods.
  2. 2. The sustainable development strategies of air pollution control in different regions.
  3. Economic and social impacts of air pollutant emissions.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Jian Wu
Dr. Shuo Ding
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 submissions that pass pre-check are 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 2400 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
  • sustainable development
  • environmental impacts
  • global change

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1219 KiB  
Article
Artificial Intelligence and Urban Air Quality: The Role of Government and Public Environmental Attention
by Chaobo Zhou
Sustainability 2025, 17(13), 5702; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17135702 - 20 Jun 2025
Viewed by 531
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology not only promotes rapid economic development but also plays an irreplaceable role in improving environmental quality. Based on the quasi-natural experiment of the National Artificial Intelligence Innovation Comprehensive Experimental Zone, this paper empirically studies the effect and mechanism of [...] Read more.
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology not only promotes rapid economic development but also plays an irreplaceable role in improving environmental quality. Based on the quasi-natural experiment of the National Artificial Intelligence Innovation Comprehensive Experimental Zone, this paper empirically studies the effect and mechanism of AI on urban air quality (AQ) using the multi-time difference-in-difference model. The research results showed that AI improved the AQ of cities. The mechanism analysis results indicated that there was a positive mediating effect of government environmental attention on the relationship between AI and AQ improvement. Public environmental attention can further enhance the role of AI in improving urban AQ. Further analysis revealed that the improvement effect of AI on urban AQ was mainly reflected in eastern cities and non-resource-based cities. The research conclusion of this study provides reliable empirical evidence for leveraging AI to empower urban green development and assist in air pollution prevention practices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Greening the Atmosphere: Strategies for Air Pollution and Global Sustainability)
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28 pages, 3358 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Smart City Construction on the Spatial Distribution of Urban Carbon Emissions Based on the Panel Data Analysis of 277 Prefecture-Level Cities in China
by Dacan Li, Xiaoyu Zhang, Albert D. Lau and Yuanyuan Gong
Sustainability 2025, 17(11), 4934; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17114934 - 27 May 2025
Viewed by 516
Abstract
The construction of smart cities, as a key driving force for the low-carbon transformation of the economy, urgently needs a systematic assessment of its carbon emission reduction potential. Based on the panel data of 277 cities in China from 2007 to 2021, this [...] Read more.
The construction of smart cities, as a key driving force for the low-carbon transformation of the economy, urgently needs a systematic assessment of its carbon emission reduction potential. Based on the panel data of 277 cities in China from 2007 to 2021, this study adopts innovative methods, integrates bibliometric analysis, and employs empirical models to deeply explore the impact of smart city construction on carbon emissions and its regional heterogeneity and resource endowment heterogeneity. The main findings are as follows: (1) The research on smart cities and carbon emissions present knowledge synergy, focusing on innovation and green development strategies. (2) A series of robustness tests show that smart city construction can significantly reduce urban carbon emissions. (3) Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the carbon emission reduction effect varies between regions (more significant in the northern region) and with resource endowments (non-resource-based cities are more advantageous). The important contribution of this study lies in its quantitative assessment of the carbon emission reduction effect of smart city construction, as well as its heterogeneity; this study also provides a solid empirical basis for formulating more targeted regional smart city development policies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Greening the Atmosphere: Strategies for Air Pollution and Global Sustainability)
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16 pages, 1319 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Carbon-Emission Trading Scheme Policies on Air Quality in Chinese Cities
by Youtian Fan, Zhiying Chen and Taiyi He
Sustainability 2024, 16(22), 10023; https://doi.org/10.3390/su162210023 - 17 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1464
Abstract
Air quality issues have a significant impact on human health and are an important issue affecting sustainable development. With the implementation of China’s carbon-emission trading scheme, carbon emissions have been effectively reduced, which has a potential impact on air quality. This article uses [...] Read more.
Air quality issues have a significant impact on human health and are an important issue affecting sustainable development. With the implementation of China’s carbon-emission trading scheme, carbon emissions have been effectively reduced, which has a potential impact on air quality. This article uses a time-point difference-in-differences model to analyze the impact of the implementation of a carbon-emission trading scheme on the air quality in 284 cities in China from 2008 to 2021. During the inspection, the impact of policies on overall air quality and on various types of air pollutants was discussed separately. The research results show that the implementation of the carbon-emission trading scheme helps improve urban air quality issues, reduce the concentration of air pollutants such as PM2.5 and SO2, and improve the urban environment; with controlled variables, it has reduced PM2.5 by 2.548 units, SO2 by 0.180 units, NOx by 0.295 units, and has promoted the sustainable development of cities. In addition, the policy mainly has a positive impact on air quality by promoting green technology innovation and industrial upgrading, further demonstrating the spillover effect of the policy. There is also some regional heterogeneity in the policies, especially in the central and western regions, where the reduction effect of SO2 and nitrogen oxides is not significant. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Greening the Atmosphere: Strategies for Air Pollution and Global Sustainability)
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