BACKGROUND Many studies showed a connection between exposition to high levels of urban pollution (especially to particulate and traffic noise) and the onset of even deadly cardiovascular diseases. DESIGN Meta-analysis of case-control design. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study is to estimate the association between cardiovascular effects and occupational exposition to atmospheric pollution in ...

Under rapid urbanization, many cities in China suffer from serious fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution. As the emission sources or adsorption sinks, land use and the corresponding landscape pattern unavoidably affect the concentration. However, the correlation varies with different regions and scales, leaving a significant gap for urban planning. This study clarifies the correlation with ...

Ambient air pollution in urban and industrial areas in Greece was a serious environmental problem which was connected with rapid urbanization of cities, anarchic housing development without basic infrastructures and increases of motor vehicle fleet in urban regions. Especially Athens, witnessed severe air pollution problems in the decades 1960s‘-1970s‘ and the formation of the infamous brown-ye...

The impact of urban air pollution on the environments and human health has drawn increasing concerns from researchers, policymakers and citizens. To reduce the negative health impact, it is of great importance to measure the air pollution at high spatial resolution in a timely manner. Traditionally, air pollution is measured using dedicated instruments at fixed monitoring stations, which are pl...

Income inequality is rising in China at the same time that urban air pollution remains high. Households can purchase market products such as masks and air filters to protect themselves from pollution. Using a unique data set of Internet purchases, we document that households invest more in such products when ambient pollution levels exceed key alert thresholds. Richer people are more likely to ...

In this chapter we propose a new method of modelling urban pollutants arising from transportation networks. The efficacy of the proposed approach is demonstrated by means of a number of examples. Our models give rise to a number of surprising observations that are relevant for the regulation of pollution in urban networks: Different actions are required for the control of different pollutants a...

Climate change is expected to influence urban living conditions and challenge the ability of cities to adapt to and mitigate climate change. Urban climates will be faced with elevated temperatures and future climate conditions are expected to cause higher ozone concentrations, increased biogenic emissions from vegetation, changes in the chemistry of the atmosphere and changes in deposition of p...

The paper describes an ontology for air pollution analysis and control, AIR_POLLUTION_Onto, and presents its use in two case studies, an expert system, and a multiagent system, both dedicated to monitoring and control of air pollution in urban regions.

Air pollution in urban environments has serious health and quality of life implications. A wide variety of anthropogenic air pollution sources increase the levels of background air pollutant concentrations, leading to the deterioration of the ambient air quality. Principal sources of urban air pollution are vehicular traffic, industrial activity and in general fossil fuel combustion, introducin...

In January 2013, North China Plain experienced several serious haze events. Cimel sunphotometer measurements at seven sites over rural, suburban and urban regions of North China Plain from 1 to 30 January 2013 were used to further our understanding of spatial-temporal variation of aerosol optical parameters and aerosol radiative forcing (ARF). It was found that Aerosol Optical Depth at 500 nm (...