Intercontinental transport of aerosols and photochemical oxidants from Asia and its consequences

Donald J. Wuebbles, Hang Lei, Jintai Lin

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

The intercontinental transport of aerosols and photochemical oxidants from Asia is a crucial issue for air quality concerns in countries downwind of the significant emissions and concentrations of pollutants occurring in this important region of the world. Since the lifetimes of some important pollutants are long enough to be transported over long distance in the troposphere, regional control strategies for air pollution in downwind countries might be ineffective without considering the effects of long-range transport of pollutants from Asia. Field campaigns provide strong evidence for the intercontinental transport of Asian pollutants. They, together with ground-based observations and model simulations, show that the air quality over parts of North America is being affected by the pollutants transported from Asia. This paper examines the current understanding of the intercontinental transport of gases and aerosols from Asia and resulting effects on air quality, and on the regional and global climate system.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)65-84
Number of pages20
JournalEnvironmental Pollution
Volume150
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2007

Keywords

  • Asia
  • Long-range transport
  • Pollutants

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Toxicology
  • Pollution
  • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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