Air quality improvement in Los Angeles—Perspectives for developing cities

Abstract

Air quality improvement in Los Angeles can inform air quality policies in developing cities.

Emission control efforts, their results, costs and health benefits are briefly summarized.

Today's developing cities face new challenges including regional pollution.

Air quality issues in Beijing are briefly compared and contrasted with Los Angeles.

Opportunities for co-benefits for climate and air quality improvement are identified.

Air quality improvement in Los Angeles, California is reviewed with an emphasis on aspects that may inform air quality policy formulation in developing cities. In the mid-twentieth century the air quality in Los Angeles was degraded to an extent comparable to the worst found in developing cities today; ozone exceeded 600 ppb and annual average particulate matter <10 mm reached ~150 mg·m⁻³. Today's air quality is much better due to very effective emission controls; e.g., modern automobiles emit about 1% of the hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide emitted by vehicles of 50 years ago. An overview is given of the emission control efforts in Los Angeles and their impact on ambient concentrations of primary and secondary pollutants; the costs and health benefits of these controls are briefly summarized. Today's developing cities have new challenges that are discussed: the effects of regional pollution transport are much greater in countries with very high population densities; often very large current populations must be supplied with goods and services even while economic development and air quality concerns are addressed; and many of currently developing cities are located in or close to the tropics where photochemical processing of pollution is expected to be more rapid than at higher latitudes. The air quality issues of Beijing are briefly compared and contrasted with those of Los Angeles, and the opportunities for co-benefits for climate and air quality improvement are pointed out.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Air pollution / Ozone / Particulate matter / Control technology

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Acknowledgements

DDP acknowledges support from NOAA's Health of the Atmosphere and Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Programs and the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The statements and opinions expressed in this paper are solely the authors' and do not represent the official position of the CARB. The mention of trade names, products, and organizations does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

Speciality:

Gas-phase species<POLLUTION

Particle-phase species<POLLUTION

Sources, transport and fate<POLLUTION

Air pollution control / technology<OTHER RELATED AREAS

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