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Environments
Special Issues
Response to Current Air Quality Changes in Small and Large...
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Response to Current Air Quality Changes in Small and Large Areas

A special issue of Environments (ISSN 2076-3298).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2021) | Viewed by 12280

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Zulema Varela Río

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Guest Editor
CRETUS, Ecology Unit, Department of Functional Biology, Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Interests: atmospheric pollution; bryophytes; ecotoxicology; environmental monitoring
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Hector Morillas

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Didactic of Mathematics and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Education and Sport, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain
Interests: material-atmosphere interactions; effects of different environments (marine, urban and industrial) on the conservation state of built and cultural heritage; damage evaluation and risk assessment
Prof. Dr. Patricia Sanmartín

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Departamento de Edafología y Química Agrícola, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela (A Coruña), Spain
2. Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela (A Coruña), Spain
Interests: environmental sciences and monitoring; stone; cultural heritage resources; biofilm at the stone/air interface; bioreceptivity and the development of innovative environmental technologies aimed at managing; assessing and mitigating natural and human impacts on built heritage and new build in the context of global change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Good environmental health leads to good human health, which is why air quality is a key environmental issue in the current scientific research. At present, social concern is great, and a significant effort is being made to improve air quality through legislation for emissions reduction. In addition to the negative effects on human health, air quality changes are responsible for different responses of the urban fabric, such as modifications of the biology and weathering of building materials (including soiling and discoloration).

This Special Issue invites contributions from researchers across the globe to suggest, discuss, and address some effects associated with air quality changes in different areas at the municipal, regional, state, national, and global levels.

The topics of interest include but are not limited to:

  • Green policies related to air quality
  • Record changes in air quality due to the COVID-19 crisis
  • Record changes in air quality due to global change
  • Current air quality changes in the context of smart cities
  • Patterns and drivers on built structures to the understanding of air quality change

Dr. Zulema Varela Río
Dr. Hector Morillas
Dr. Patricia Sanmartín
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. Environments is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 1800 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
  • Bioindicators
  • Biomonitoring
  • Building maintenance
  • Cultural heritage
  • Green policies
  • Records
  • Smart cities
  • Temporal trends
  • Urban fabric

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 562 KiB  
Article
Trend Analysis of Air Quality Index (AQI) and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions in Taiwan and Their Regulatory Countermeasures
by Wen-Tien Tsai and Yu-Quan Lin
Environments 2021, 8(4), 29; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/environments8040029 - 08 Apr 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 6380
Abstract
A reduction in the energy-related emissions of air pollutants would not only mitigate climate change but would also improve local air quality and public health. This paper aimed to analyze the trends of air quality index (AQI) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in [...] Read more.
A reduction in the energy-related emissions of air pollutants would not only mitigate climate change but would also improve local air quality and public health. This paper aimed to analyze the trends of air quality index (AQI) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Taiwan by using the latest official statistics. In addition, this study also summarized regulatory measures for controlling air pollution from the energy sector with relevance to sustainable development goals (SDGs). With the joint efforts by the public and private sectors, the change in the total GHG emissions did not vary much with the exception of 2009, ranging from 250 to 272 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent from 2005 through 2019. Based on the data on AQI, the percentage of AQI by station-day with AQI > 100 has decreased from 18.1% in 2017 to 10.1% in 2020, indicating a decreasing trend for all criteria air pollutants. On the other hand, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown, in 2019, has positively impacted Taiwan’s urban air quality, which was consistent with those observed in other countries. This consistent situation could be attributed to the climate change mitigation policies and promotional actions under the revised Air Pollution Control Act and the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act of 2015. In response to the SDGs launched by the Taiwan government in 2018, achieving the relevant targets by 2030 can be prospective. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Response to Current Air Quality Changes in Small and Large Areas)
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15 pages, 12328 KiB  
Article
Subtle Changes or Dramatic Perceptions of Air Pollution in Sydney during COVID-19
by Peter Brimblecombe and Yonghang Lai
Environments 2021, 8(1), 2; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/environments8010002 - 01 Jan 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5050
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic made it critical to limit the spread of the disease by enforcing human isolation, restricting travel and reducing social activities. Dramatic improvements to air quality, especially NO2, have often characterised places under COVID-19 restrictions. Air pollution measurements in [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic made it critical to limit the spread of the disease by enforcing human isolation, restricting travel and reducing social activities. Dramatic improvements to air quality, especially NO2, have often characterised places under COVID-19 restrictions. Air pollution measurements in Sydney in April 2019 and during the lockdown period in April 2020 show reduced daily averaged NO2 concentrations: 8.52 ± 1.92 and 7.85 ± 2.92 ppb, though not significantly so (p1~0.15) and PM2.5 8.91 ± 4.94 and 7.95 ± 2.64 µg m−3, again a non-significant difference (p1~0.18). Satellite imagery suggests changes that parallel those at ground level, but the column densities averaged over space and time, in false-colour, are more dramatic. Changed human mobility could be traced in increasing times spent at home, assessed from Google Mobility Reports and mirrored in decreased traffic flow on a major road, suggesting compliance with the restrictions. Electricity demand for the State of New South Wales was low under lockdown in early April 2020, but it recovered rapidly. Analysis of the uses of search terms: bushfires, air quality, haze and air pollution using Google Trends showed strong links between bushfires and pollution-related terms. The smoke from bushfires in late 2019 may well have added to the general impression of improved air quality during lockdown, despite only modest changes in the ground level measurements. This gives hints that successful regulation of air quality requires maintaining a delicate balance between our social perceptions and the physical reality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Response to Current Air Quality Changes in Small and Large Areas)
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