Date:
Location:
Speaker: Lin Jintai
LIN Jintai, Professor, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University
Co-sponsored by China Project and Environmental Science and Engineering Seminar Series, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science
Abstract
China has become the world’s top emitter of anthropogenic aerosol and gaseous pollution. The severity of China’s pollution not only has caused dramatic domestic environmental problems, but has also raised concerns of long-range pollution transport to downwind regions. China is also the world’s top trading country, and it manufactures and exports large amounts of industrial products to supply foreign consumption. This means significant implicit pollution transport from foreign countries to China through international trade. China’s domestic pollution is further complicated by inter-provincial trade that supplies both Chinese and foreign consumption. In this study, we will analyze China’s pollution sources and transport by combining satellite measurements, chemical transport modeling, emission calculation, and economic analysis. We will demonstrate that China’s pollution is connected to other countries via both atmospheric and economic mechanisms. Solving global pollution problems needs interdisciplinary and comprehensive thinking.