TY - JOUR
T1 - Cities of Central Asia
T2 - New hotspots of air pollution in the world
AU - Tursumbayeva, Madina
AU - Muratuly, Aset
AU - Baimatova, Nassiba
AU - Karaca, Ferhat
AU - Kerimray, Aiymgul
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Committee of Science of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Grant No. AP09260359 ) and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Ph.D. scholarship of Madina Tursumbayeva). The authors are grateful to Mr. Ravkat Mukhtarov (Al-Farabi Kazakh National University) and Prof. Madi Abilev (Al-Farabi Kazakh National University) for their comments and improvements to the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2023/9/15
Y1 - 2023/9/15
N2 - Central Asian cities are one of the hotspots for air pollution worldwide. There are limited studies and knowledge regarding air quality variation in this region. This study investigated PM2.5 temporal variations and the influence of meteorological parameters on PM2.5 concentrations for six major cities in Central Asia: Almaty and Astana (Kazakhstan), Ashgabat (Turkmenistan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Dushanbe (Tajikistan), and Tashkent (Uzbekistan). The results show severe air quality deterioration in the cities with annual PM2.5 concentrations up to ten-fold higher than the limits. A clear seasonal pattern with winter peaks was observed in Almaty, Bishkek, and Astana, whereas winter and summer were highly polluted in Tashkent and Dushanbe. Based on the pollution profiles, cities were classified into several clusters. Episodes with high PM2.5 concentrations were evaluated for regional pollutant transportation using the HYSPLIT model. The results of this investigation highlight a significant discrepancy in official emissions inventory studies. While previous studies have suggested that transportation is the primary source of air pollution, the approach to estimate the share of emission sources was based on an outdated methodology that obscures information on the most hazardous pollutants, including PM2.5. This study shows that coal combustion is the primary source of PM2.5 pollution in most cities, offering policymakers critical insights into the sources of air pollution in the region. These findings demonstrate the need for policymakers to take swift action to address coal use and adopt effective measures to mitigate PM2.5 pollution, thereby improving the health and well-being of the population.
AB - Central Asian cities are one of the hotspots for air pollution worldwide. There are limited studies and knowledge regarding air quality variation in this region. This study investigated PM2.5 temporal variations and the influence of meteorological parameters on PM2.5 concentrations for six major cities in Central Asia: Almaty and Astana (Kazakhstan), Ashgabat (Turkmenistan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Dushanbe (Tajikistan), and Tashkent (Uzbekistan). The results show severe air quality deterioration in the cities with annual PM2.5 concentrations up to ten-fold higher than the limits. A clear seasonal pattern with winter peaks was observed in Almaty, Bishkek, and Astana, whereas winter and summer were highly polluted in Tashkent and Dushanbe. Based on the pollution profiles, cities were classified into several clusters. Episodes with high PM2.5 concentrations were evaluated for regional pollutant transportation using the HYSPLIT model. The results of this investigation highlight a significant discrepancy in official emissions inventory studies. While previous studies have suggested that transportation is the primary source of air pollution, the approach to estimate the share of emission sources was based on an outdated methodology that obscures information on the most hazardous pollutants, including PM2.5. This study shows that coal combustion is the primary source of PM2.5 pollution in most cities, offering policymakers critical insights into the sources of air pollution in the region. These findings demonstrate the need for policymakers to take swift action to address coal use and adopt effective measures to mitigate PM2.5 pollution, thereby improving the health and well-being of the population.
KW - Air mass trajectories
KW - Air quality
KW - Central asia
KW - Covid-19 lockdown
KW - Meteorological conditions
KW - PM
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U2 - 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2023.119901
DO - 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2023.119901
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85162136998
SN - 1352-2310
VL - 309
JO - Atmospheric Environment
JF - Atmospheric Environment
M1 - 119901
ER -
