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Global Air Quality and Pollution: Science January 2004
Global Air Quality and Pollution: Science January 2004
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Hajime Akimoto
National Institute for Environmental Studies
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The impact of global air pollution on climate and the environment is a new remote areas, and from 10 to 15 ppbv to 20 to
focus in atmospheric science. Intercontinental transport and hemispheric 30 ppbv over the mid- and high-latitude Pa-
air pollution by ozone jeopardize agricultural and natural ecosystems cific Ocean. One example of the spatial ex-
worldwide and have a strong effect on climate. Aerosols, which are spread tent of global ozone pollution is that the
globally but have a strong regional imbalance, change global climate average concentration of ozone in remote
through their direct and indirect effects on radiative forcing. In the 1990s, areas of East Asia is already high enough to
nitrogen oxide emissions from Asia surpassed those from North America jeopardize agricultural and natural ecosys-
and Europe and should continue to exceed them for decades. International tems there (14). It is easily seen, then, how
initiatives to mitigate global air pollution require participation from both the elevation of background levels of ozone
developed and developing countries.
Fig. 3. Changes in anthropogenic NOx Figure 3 shows the recent trend in NOx emis-
emissions over North America (United sions by continent in the Northern Hemisphere
States and Canada) (41), Europe (in- (40). Emissions from North America include
cluding Russia and the near and middle those from the United States and Canada (41);
East) (42), and Asia (East, Southeast,
and South Asia) [solid squares, (44);
European emissions include those from Russia
open squares, (45)]. The extrapolated and middle and near-East Asia (42, 43); and
line for Europe in the 1970s is based on Asian emissions include those from East, South-
OECD data (43). east, and South Asia (44, 45). Emissions from
North America and Europe (including adjacent
regions) have been nearly equal since the 1980s
and have each remained near 25 to 28 Tg/year.
After 1990, an apparently decreasing trend in
NOx emissions from Europe is thought to be due
to stringent emission controls in Western Euro-
pean countries. In contrast, Asian emissions,
which contributed only a minor fraction of glob-
al emissions during the 1970s, have increased
rapidly since then and surpassed emissions from
North America and Europe in the mid-1990s.
from the United States have an effect between row). Thus, the O3 from the United States This situation is expected to continue for at least
that of East Asia and Europe for vertical, me- affects Europe in the boundary layer and mid- the next couple of decades (46). In addition,
ridional, and zonal transport (Fig. 2, middle dle and upper troposphere. future increases of emissions from Africa and
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Science (print ISSN 0036-8075; online ISSN 1095-9203) is published weekly, except the last week in December, by the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1200 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20005. Copyright
2003 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science; all rights reserved. The title Science is a
registered trademark of AAAS.
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