Trend and Interannual Variability of Chinese Air Pollution since 2000 in Association with Socioeconomic Development: A Brief Overview

Abstract: Chinese air pollution has increased in this century along with the rapid socioeconomic development and resulting anthropogenic emissions. While recent emission control measures have shown encouraging results and have reduced the levels of sulfur dioxide and primary aerosols, the concentrations of other air pollutants continue to grow, particularly secondary pollutants including ozone and secondary aerosols. Meanwhile, a variety of intentional and unintentional socioeconomic events have temporarily changed the pace, and even the signs, of growth of air pollution. These events include the short-term emission restrictions imposed during the Sino-African Summit, the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics, the Shanghai World Exposition (Shanghai Expo), the Guangzhou Asian Olympics, and the Shenzhen Universiade, as well as the unintentional emission reductions associated with the recent economic recession and the annual Chinese New Year. This paper presents a brief overview of trends and temporary perturbations of Chinese air pollution since 2000, summarizing studies on anthropogenic emission inventories, atmospheric measurements, and inverse modeling. It concludes with recommendations for future research.