Do new health conditions support mortality–air pollution effects?

Epidemiological research underlying US air quality regulations documents significant associations between measures of fine particles and premature mortality. Recent studies examine potential mechanistic pathways, related to heart and lung functioning, that may contribute to the observed deaths. Our results support these pathophysiological analyses. We examine whether the onset of serious health conditions, consistent with disease pathways, is related to current and long-term exposure to particulate matter and ozone. Associations between air pollution and alternative indicators of health status are also evaluated. The 1996 wave of the Health and Retirement Study is used with a two-step estimator acknowledging limitations in our ability to measure individual exposures. The findings suggest significant current and long-term effects of particulates on new cases of heart attacks and angina, reinforcing the disease pathways identified in epidemiological studies. Long-term air pollution exposure is also a determinant of recently diagnosed chronic lung conditions and reports of shortness of breath.     

The resource curse revisited and revised: A tale of paradoxes and red herrings

We critically evaluate the empirical basis for the so-called resource curse and find that, despite the topic's popularity in economics and political science research, this apparent paradox may be a red herring. The most commonly used measure of “resource abundance” can be more usefully interpreted as a proxy for “resource dependence”—endogenous to underlying structural factors. In multiple estimations that combine resource abundance and dependence, institutional, and constitutional variables, we find that (i) resource abundance, constitutions, and institutions determine resource dependence, (ii) resource dependence does not affect growth, and (iii) resource abundance positively affects growth and institutional quality.     

Air pollution transport in the Balkan region and country-to-country pollution exchange between Romania, Bulgaria and Greece

US EPA Models-3 system is used for calculating the exchange of ozone pollution between three countries in southeast Europe. For the purpose, three domains with resolution 90, 30 and 10 km are chosen in such a way that the most inner domain with dimensions 90 × 147 points covers entirely Romania, Bulgaria and Greece.The ozone pollution levels are studied on the base of three indexes given in the EU Ozone Directive, mainly accumulated over threshold of 40 ppb for crops (AOT40C, period May–July), number of days with 8-h running average over 60 ppb (NOD60) and averaged daily maximum (ADM). These parameters are calculated for every scenario and the influence of each country emissions on the pollution of the region is estimated and commented.Oxidized and reduced sulphur and nitrogen loads over the territories of the three countries are also determined. The application of all scenarios gave the possibility to estimate the contribution of every country to the S and N pollution of the others and detailed blame matrixes to be build.Comparison of the ozone levels model estimates with data from the EMEP monitoring stations is made.     

The effects of license plate-based driving restrictions on air quality: Theory and empirical evidence

A typical driving restriction prohibits drivers from using their vehicles on given weekdays, based on the last digits of their vehicles’ license plates. A number of cities in developing countries have used license plate-based driving restrictions as a policy for reducing urban air pollution and traffic congestion. This paper develops a theoretical model of the effects of license plate-based driving restrictions on air quality that combines an economic model with information about the sources and atmospheric chemistry of different air pollutants. We then draw upon suggestive empirical evidence from license plate-based driving restrictions implemented in Bogotá, Colombia. Consistent with our theory model, we find suggestive empirical evidence that under certain circumstances, due to substitution, the purchase of a second car, the use of alternative modes of transportation, and/or atmospheric chemistry, it is possible for license plate-based driving restrictions to increase air pollution. Also consistent with our theory, we find that license plate-based driving restrictions may have different effects on different air pollutants, reflecting heterogeneity in the sources and atmospheric chemistry of the pollutants. In particular, owing to atmospheric chemistry, it is possible for a license plate-based driving restriction to cause a significant decrease in NO and a significant increase in NO₂, NO_x, and O₃.     

五种亚热带树苗的生长与干物质分配格局对大气污染胁迫的响应

将乡土木本植物猫尾木Dolichandronecauda-felina、蒲桃Syzygiumjambos、野牡丹Melastomacandidum、翻白叶树Pterospermumheterophyllum以及鸭脚木Scheffleraoctophylla1年生袋装苗盆栽,置半庇荫环境下适应4周,之后按株数均等分成两组,分别放置在南海五星污染区和广州华南植物园清洁区进行试验。5个月后进行植物构形生长参数和干物质量的测定,以探讨这5种亚热带树苗对大气污染响应的差异。结果表明,①这5种树苗均能在清洁区和污染区都存活,但生长特征表现明显差别。②除翻白叶树基径有少许增大外,大气污染基本上都使植物基径生长减小;树高方面,除了蒲桃外,其余树种树高都有所降低,鸭脚木树高受到的影响最为严重。③翻白叶树与猫尾木单株侧枝数有少许增加,而蒲桃和鸭脚木单株侧枝数有大幅度地下降,分别减少为清洁区单株侧枝数的46.5%和65.1%,野牡丹单株侧枝数基本上没有受到影响。④在污染区生长的5个树种单株干物质总量除了翻白叶树有所增加外,其余4个树种单株干物质量均有不同程度地下降。⑤除了蒲桃保持不变外,污染区?生长4种植物冠根比(CRR)均有不同程度地增加。在污染区生长的植株叶质量比(LWR)和叶面积比(LAR)与清洁区相比存在差异,野牡丹和蒲桃叶质量比和叶面积比下降,而其余3种植物叶质量比和叶面积比上升。综合实验结果表明,5种植物幼苗中对大气污染抗性最强的是翻白叶树和蒲桃,抗性最弱的是鸭脚木。     

Impact of climate changes on pollution levels in Denmark

The impact of climate changes on the pollution levels in Denmark is the major topic of this paper. Variations of the Danish air pollution levels that are caused by climatic changes are studied together with variations caused by other factors (emissions, inter-annual variability of meteorological conditions, etc.). The Unified Danish Eulerian Model (UNI-DEM) was run on a fine, 10 km × 10 km, grid over a space domain covering all of Europe to minimize the influence of the boundary conditions on the Danish pollution levels. This study is based on four categories of scenarios: (i) traditional scenarios, (ii) climatic scenarios, (iii) scenarios with variations of the human-made (anthropogenic) emissions and (iv) scenarios in which the biogenic emissions were varied. The total number of applied scenarios was 14, and a time-period of 16 years was used. The results show clearly that although the concentrations of the major pollutants do not depend too much on the climatic changes, some quantities, in particular quantities related to high ozone levels, might be increased significantly as a result of the warming trends in the future climate. The reason for this phenomenon is explained.     

Extreme value analysis of Munich air pollution data

We present three different approaches to modelling extreme values of daily air pollution data. We fitted a generalized extreme value distribution to the monthly maxima of daily concentration measures. For the exceedances of a high threshold depending on the data, the parameters of the generalized Pareto distribution were estimated. Accounting for autocorrelation, clusters of exceedances were used. To obtain information about the relationship of the exceedance of the air quality standard and possible predictors we applied logistic regression. Results and their interpretation are given for daily average concentrations of ozone and nitrogen dioxide at two monitoring sites within the city of Munich.     

Endogenous Growth and the Possibility of Eliminating Pollution

This paper studies the effect on optimal growth of the possibility that at some moment in the future a technology is discovered that eliminates pollution. We formalize this possibility as a probability p per unit of time of discovering such a technology. We focus on steady-state behavior and show that the optimal rate of growth increases with the hope of eliminating pollution. For an economy where there is no growth in the steady state of the optimal trajectory when p = 0, a positive p may imply positive growth. The higher the value of the probability, the larger the endogenous rate of growth.     

The effect of low emission zones on air pollution and infant health

This paper investigates the effect of low emission zones on air quality and birth outcomes in Germany. The staggered introduction of the policy measure creates a credible natural experiment and a natural control group for births and air pollution measurements in cities that enact low emission zones. I show that the introduction of the most restrictive type of low emission zone decreases average levels of fine particulate matter by about 4 percent and by up to 8 percent at a city's highest-polluting monitor. Low emission zones also reduce the number of days per year on which legal pollution limits are exceeded by three. However, these reductions are too small to translate into substantial improvements in infant health. My results are not driven by changes in maternal or city specific characteristics, and are robust to variations in specification and to the choice of control group.     

工业发展与环境污染关系的区域差异分析--基于江苏省的实证研究

利用格兰杰因果关系检验（Granger causality tests）方法分析了江苏省处在不同发展阶段的三大区域的工业经济增长和环境污染之间双向作用关系。研究结果表明：经济发展水平越高,工业经济增长对环境污染的影响越明显,并且持续时间长,在某种程度上环境污染已经成为受工业经济增长影响的内生变量;江苏省三大区域环境污染都不是工业经济增长的原因,环境污染的加重并不能带来工业经济的增长,因此,在实践中靠牺牲环境来换取经济增长的理念是不可取的,＂先污染后治理＂的发展思路是不可行的。     

土壤中镉铜复合污染对水稻生长效应影响

本文通过盆栽试验研究土壤中镉铜复合污染对水稻生长效应的影响,并探讨了有效态铜、镉的提取剂。结果表明,2.5％醋酸可作为酸性水稻土有效态铜、镉的提取剂,土壤含镉5mg/kg对铜的水稻产量效应未有影响,但糙米含镉量超标。     

Critical ranges of pollution indices: a tool for predicting soil metal pollution under long-term wastewater reuse

A greenhouse experiment was conducted in pots, for two years (2015–2016), in Amaliada, Greece, using a randomized block design, including six treatments with mixtures composed of Zn, Mn, Cd, Co, Cu, Cr, Ni, and Pb, each metal taking part in the mixture at concentrations of 0, 10, 20, 30 40, and 50 mg/kg soil in four replicates each. Beta vulgaris (beet) was used as a test plant. The aim of the experiment was to calibrate the following pollution indices: “pollution load index,” “elemental pollution index,” “heavy metal load,” and “total concentration factor,” in order to determine the level of soil pollution under variable levels (low to very high) of metal mixtures. The irrigation of the plants was conducted with treated municipal wastewater based on field capacity and percent wilting point. The above pollution indices were classified into four soil pollution classes, i.e., “optimum,” “low,” “high” and “very high” on the basis of percent dry matter plant losses.     

苏州市区空气污染对园林香樟,枫香植物生长的影响

本文测定了苏州市园林和效区香樟、枫香的光合作用、叶绿素含量、新梢长度、叶片长度与叶片宽度等生长因子,发现市区园林植物生长均受到抑制,其原因是空气污染造成的。提出了调整产业结构、集中供热、点源和面源控制、地面扬尘以及汽车气控制的整治措施,加以根治苏州区空气污染,改善城市生态环境。     

The promise of Beijing: Evaluating the impact of the 2008 Olympic Games on air quality

To prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games, China adopted a number of radical measures to improve air quality. Using the officially reported air pollution index (API) from 2000 to 2009, we show that these measures improved the API of Beijing during and a little after the Games, but a significant proportion of the effect faded away by October 2009. For comparison, we also analyze an objective and indirect measure of air quality at a high spatial resolution – aerosol optimal depth (AOD), derived using the data from NASA satellites. The AOD analysis confirms the real but temporary improvement in air quality, it also shows a significant correlation between air quality improvement and the timing and location of plant closure and traffic control. These results suggest that it is possible to achieve real environmental improvement via stringent policy interventions, but for how long the effects of these interventions will last will largely depend on the continuation of the interventions.     

大气化学污染的植物净化研究进展

大气污染是人类面临的严重环境问题之一,植物除了可以监测大气的化学污染外,在近地表大气污染物的清除中起着重要作用。利用植物净化大气化学污染是一种经济、有效、非破坏型的环境污染修复方式,植物净化污染大气的思想及其技术对城市园林绿化、环境规划和生态环境建设等具有直接的指导意义和应用价值。文章简要介绍了大气化学污染植物净化的机理,综述了近年来利用植物净化大气无机污染物和有机污染物的研究成果,并展望了今后需要进一步研究的领域。植物净化化学性大气污染的主要过程是持留和去除:持留过程涉及植物截获、吸附和滞留等,去除过程包括植物吸收、降解、转化、同化和超同化等。利用生物学、化学、农学、土壤科学和环境科学等多学科交叉,筛选高效的净化植物、研究污染物在植物体内的转化机理和影响净化效果的因素、开发联合修复技术、培育转基因净化植物等是未来研究的主要方向。     

The short and long run effects of tied foreign aid on pollution abatement, pollution and employment: A pilot model

There exists in the literature a presumption that tied foreign aid can be used effectively to reduce cross-border pollution. Focusing, in contrast to the received literature, on the interaction between the public and private provisions of pollution abatement in the recipient country, we question the effectiveness of tied foreign aid in reducing pollution. In this context, we obtain many novel and policy relevant insights. Allowing for changes in labour employment and distinguishing between short and long run effects, tied foreign aid is shown to crowd out the private provision for pollution abatement in the short run. In the long run, tied foreign aid raises employment and therefore may be desirable for the recipient but undesirable for the donor country because it also raises pollution. The results change drastically if only the government provides pollution abatement.     

中国污染控制政策的评估及展望

论文对近10年来中国污染控制政策的演变历程和发展特点进行了分析,指出污染控制政策总体上呈现出由单环节末端治理向全过程污染控制演变,由单纯强调工业"三废"控制向工业、城市和农业全方位污染综合防治演变,由单一指令控制手段向行政、经济与技术综合手段演变等3个显著特点;运用影响因素评价矩阵,对当前的主要污染控制政策进行了系统评估,指出目前我国污染控制政策总体执行效果不显著;最后提出了未来中国污染控制政策的基本走向,一是完善污染控制的法律法规体系,二是建立和完善环境影响评价制度、环境目标责任制度和排污许可证制度等三项重点环境管理制度,三是加强环境税收、排污权交易、环境公共财政、生态补偿、绿色资本市场等七项环境经济政策的改革与创新.     

基因污染与生态环境安全

论述了基因污染可能对生态环境安全造成的影响。转基因作物有可能污染天然物种的基因库；有可能破坏传统农作物品种的遗传多样性，加速作物种植品种的单一化及基因资源的流失；使抗除草剂作物的基因向野生或半野生植物漂移的可能性加大，有可能创造出“超级杂草”；带有病毒型转基因作物的基因重组，有可能创造出新的植物病毒，导致新的病害；BT转基因抗虫作物分泌的毒素，在食物链中传递，很难加以控制，对非目标生物造成危害，并最终破坏自然生态系统的平衡。文章还从不同角度分析了基因污染的严重性。