Sandra Sorte

How healthy will be the air quality in 2050

The air quality standards defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), and updated in 2005, continue to be much more exigent than current EU legislation, namely regarding the most critical pollutants over Europe: ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5). This work intends to evaluate the fulfilment of these WHO standards in the present and in the future, including climate change effects. This study will be focused on Portugal, where each year, the O3 and PM10 concentrations exceed the legislated limit values. For this, regional air quality simulations for present and future periods were conducted, with CAMx version 6.0, to investigate the impacts of climate change and anthropogenic emission projections on air quality over Portugal in 2050. The climate and emission projections for 2050 were derived from the Representative Concentrations Pathway 8.5 scenario. Modelling results show that, over Portugal, the WHO standards are already not being fulfilled and will continue to be surpassed in the future. When considering climate change and projected anthropogenic emissions and comparing them to the actual scenario, a reduction in the maximum 8-h daily O3 concentration is expected. For PM, the results indicate serious problems regarding the health impact expected for both long-term and short-term exposure. The annual averages for both PM10 and PM2.5 exceed the AQG over the country. The PM short-term exposure is already very high for current conditions and higher impacts are expected for future scenario, in particular regarding the PM10 values. This air quality degradation is caused by the warmer and dryer conditions and the increase of background concentrations of pollutants expected for the 2050 climate. The results evidence that human health protection will be even more critical in the future, particularly for particulate matter. Furthermore, urgent air quality management strategies need to be designed, with transboundary cooperation and implementation.

Adaptation to Climate Change at Local Scale: A CFD Study in Porto Urban Area

Green infrastructures play an essential role in urban planning, namely with their potential to reduce the impact from air pollution episodes together with extreme weather events. This chapter focuses on the assessment of green infrastructures’ benefits on current and future microclimate and air quality patterns in Porto’s urban area (Portugal). The effects of green infrastructures on flow dynamics are evaluated for the baseline scenarios by means of numerical and physical simulations, using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model VADIS and the wind tunnel of the University of Aveiro. The baseline morphological (BM) scenario focuses on the current morphological characteristics of Porto’s urban area, while a baseline green (BG) scenario comprises the replacement of built-up areas by green areas and parks. In addition, the benefits of green infrastructures on air quality are assessed for the baseline and under future climate scenarios. The air quality simulations focus on particulate matter, one of the most critical air pollutants with severe impacts on human health. For the BM scenario, the simulated concentrations are compared with hourly averaged PM10 concentrations measured during a weekday at the air quality station located within the study domain.

MEASURES TO REDUCE AIR POLLUTION CAUSED BY FUGITIVE DUST EMISSIONS FROM HARBOUR ACTIVITIES

Emissions from harbour-related activities have an important impact on air quality; therefore, improved knowledge about the coastal microclimate and consequent air pollution dispersion patterns is of utmost importance. In recent years, residents of the southeast urban community of the Port of Aveiro (Portugal) have identified high levels of dust in and around their residences, which has raised their concern regarding the potential effects of air pollution on public health. The citizens’ complaints were linked to fugitive dust emissions from petroleum coke (petcoke), which is usually unloaded or temporarily stored outdoors in the port prior to transportation to a nearby manufacturing plant. Following this, the air quality measurements taken in the area have shown high levels of PM10 concentrations, especially when the wind blew from north and northwest directions. Furthermore, a numerical and physical modelling study has been performed in order to assess the impacts of the transport and storage of petcoke on the local air quality. The modelling results pointed out to a set of potential mitigation measures, namely the construction upwind of different barriers from the petcoke pile. This article presents the characterization of the problem and the management strategies adopted. It also presents the results of modelling assessment to select the most potential effective barrier in order to minimize petcoke dust impact on the surrounding population.

Air quality, urban fluxes and cities resilience under climate change – a brief overview

Cities are home of about 70% of the European population, and it is expected that by 2050 this number will be achieved around the world. As a result, cities are facing important challenges related to pressures induced by changes on urban metabolism and by climate change (CC) effects. Understanding the key factors determining the vulnerability of a city provides a framework to consider resilience. These issues become more and more relevant since changes in urban structure and metabolism together with CC will start affecting atmospheric emissions, urban air quality and consequently human health. Cobenefits of an urban air quality and CC approach need to be further addressed taking into consideration that CC creates both risks and opportunities. Therefore, an integrated assessment of the interaction between resilience factors and CC effects, and its influence on the urban microclimate and air quality, is required to better adapt to future climate. This knowledge is fundamental to support policy makers and stakeholders helping them to choose the best strategies to manage resources, to mitigate extreme weather events and to predict air pollution episodes. This article offers a systematic review on CC impacts in cities, providing some adaptation strategies and suggesting future research topics.

Correction to: How healthy will be the air quality in 2050?

The acknowledgment of the original article should read as follows: