title: Impacts of pollution controls on air quality in Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games.
abstract: Air pollution has become one of the main environmental concerns in China since the 1980s due to China's rapid economic growth and resultant pollution. However, it is difficult to directly evaluate the anthropogenic contribution to air pollution in China. The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing provided a unique opportunity for testing the contribution of anthropogenic pollution because of the clean-up controls on air quality in Beijing enforced over the period of the Games. In this case study, we monitored the concentrations of major air pollutants before, during, and after the Olympics at a suburban site in Beijing. Atmospheric concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, NH3, NO2, SO2, and the particulate ions NH4+, NO3-, SO4(2-) Ca2+, Mg2+, and K+ all decreased during the Olympic period because of strict emission controls, compared with the same period from 2005 to 2007. For example, the average PM10 concentration (61 microg m(-3)) during the Olympics was only 37% of that (166 microg m(-3)) in the same month (August) from 2005 to 2007. However, just 1 mo and 1 yr after the Games had ended, mean concentrations of these pollutants had increased significantly again. This rapid "recovery' of air pollutant concentrations after the Olympics suggests that China needs to implement long-lasting decreases in its air pollution in Beijing and other major cities.
authors.affiliation: College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural Univ., Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Jianlin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Aohan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Xuejun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kopsch
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fangmeier
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Goulding
authors.forename: Fusuo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000641:Ammonia / Q000737:chemistry; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000032:analysis; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry; D052638:Particulate Matter; D013177:Sports; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide; D000641:Ammonia; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide