Progress in the reduction of carbon monoxide levels in major urban areas in Korea.
Long-term trends in observed carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations were analyzed in seven major South Korean cities from 1989 to 2013. Temporal trends were evident on seasonal and annual timescales, as were spatial gradients between the cities. As CO levels in the most polluted cities decreased significantly until the early 2000s, the data were arbitrarily divided into two time periods (I: 1989-2000 and II: 2001-2013) for analysis. The mean CO concentration of period II was about 50% lower than that of period I. Long-term trends of annual mean CO concentrations, examined using the Mann-Kendall (MK) method, confirm a consistent reduction in CO levels from 1989 to 2000 (period I). The abrupt reduction in CO levels was attributed to a combination of technological improvements and government administrative/regulatory initiatives (e.g., emission mitigation strategies and a gradual shift in the fuel/energy consumption mix away from coal and oil to natural gas and nuclear power).
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-Ro, Seoul 133-791, South Korea. Electronic address: kkim61@hanyang.ac.kr.
Ki-Hyun
KH
Kim
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-Ro, Seoul 133-791, South Korea.
Kyung-Hwa
KH
Sul
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-Ro, Seoul 133-791, South Korea.
Jan E
JE
Szulejko
ANSTO Institute for Environmental Research, Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, NSW 2232, Australia.
Scott D
SD
Chambers
Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550002, PR China.
Xinbin
X
Feng
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-Ro, Seoul 133-791, South Korea.
Min-Hee
MH
Lee
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000032:analysis*; D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D058735:Environmental Policy; D056910:Republic of Korea; D014507:Urbanization
D000393:Air Pollutants; D002248:Carbon Monoxide
Carbon monoxide; Environmental policy; Korea; Long-term trends; Seasonal; Urban