\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe results of the study are published in the IOP Publishing journal\u00a0<\/span>Environmental Research Letters.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe effects of a growing population<\/h3>\n The researchers used EDGAR to demonstrate a country-to-global view of how sector-specific greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions have evolved throughout the last 50 years, analysing urban centres, rural areas, and other geographical entities for the impacts of human settlement. The results demonstrated that around one-third of Earth\u2019s global\u00a0anthropogenic greenhouse gases\u00a0and air pollutant emissions were created by urban centres by 2015.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe population of the Earth has increased by 80% between 1975 and 2015, with the population of urban areas increasing in all continents and nearly doubling globally, with rural destinations also growing by 40%. Developing countries and emerging regions displayed the most rapid growth, and by 2015, nearly half of the planet lived in urban centres, with substantial urban centres that are home to more than one million people representing 5% of the global surface, whilst containing 22% of the worldwide population. By forming a more comprehensive understanding of which greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions are produced, the location of their presence and the nature in which they are contributing to the effects of climate change, strategies, policies, and technologies can be introduced to mitigate them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat is Edgar?<\/h3>\n EDGAR is a\u00a0groundbreaking, state-of-the-art technology\u00a0proficient in examining modern and historic levels of greenhouse gas and air pollutant\u00a0emissions\u00a0at\u00a0a\u00a0global, country, and regional\u00a0level,\u00a0containing\u00a0extensive\u00a0spatio-temporal homogenous,\u00a0consistent\u00a0data\u00a0of greenhouse gas and\u00a0air pollutant emissions globally between 1970 and 2015.\u00a0The EDGAR technology\u00a0expertly\u00a0spatially distributes anthropogenic emissions\u00a0throughout\u00a0a globally mapped grid system with a\u00a0spatial resolution of\u00a00.1 degree\u00a0\u2013 10 kilometres \u2013 which allowed the researchers to analyse the route of\u00a0the emissions.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe worldwide scope of\u00a0air pollutant emissions\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\nThe resulting data indicated that urban centres are the most considerable\u00a0emitters of CO<\/span>2\u00a0<\/span>and air pollutant emissions,\u00a0and when factoring in\u00a0the\u00a0suburbs to the equation, around 50% of global emissions\u00a0take place in an area of 1%\u00a0of\u00a0the global surface of the Earth.\u00a0When\u00a0<\/span>not<\/span>\u00a0only<\/span>n<\/span>on<\/span>\u00a0urban\u00a0centres are included,\u00a0this\u00a0rises to 70-80%, which is mainly attributable to combustion sources, with\u00a0geographically focused mitigation actions potentially able to reduce these\u00a0effects due to\u00a0the emissions\u00a0being\u00a0spatially\u00a0concentrated.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNH3 is the only exception to this rule, as this is predominantly\u00a0exhibited\u00a0in rural areas, where\u00a0agricultural activities account for over 50%\u00a0of global emissions. Over the last 50 years,\u00a0emissions in urban areas with emerging economies have increased dramatically; however, in high-income economies,\u00a0CO, SO2,\u00a0and PM10\u00a0have been reduced in industrialised countries, likely because\u00a0of\u00a0novel green technologies, policies,\u00a0and\u00a0higher energy efficiency.\u00a0Furthermore,\u00a0de-industrialisation, effective mitigations actions, and advancements in the service economy have\u00a0meant that\u00a0the\u00a0emissions in the megacities of high-income economies have\u00a0also been reduced, with the data\u00a0signifying\u00a0those high-income countries\u00a0have decoupled their emissions from economic growth.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAlthough climate change is a global issue, air\u00a0quality is a geographically specific\u00a0problem\u00a0where different courses of action will need to be taken dependent on the location to tackle exposure to\u00a0toxic pollutants, mitigate consequences to human health, and\u00a0protect vital ecosystems.\u00a0This means that local strategies need to be implemented\u00a0to tackle air pollution emissions; an area that would be\u00a0ideal for targeting on a city\u00a0level would be\u00a0combatting\u00a0PM2.5 population exposure, with the data suggesting that a 30% reduction of\u00a0PM2.5 is attainable in around half of the considered\u00a0European\u00a0cities.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A study utilising\u00a0EDGAR technology has indicated that air pollutant emissions have regressed in more developed countries.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":13050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24433,785],"tags":[3478,689,3365],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
EDGAR reveals air pollutant emissions decrease in developed countries<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n