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. 2023 Jan 4;20(2):911.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20020911.

Public Concern about Haze and Ozone in the Era of Their Coordinated Control in China

Yaling Lu  1   2 , Yuan Wang  1 , Yujie Liao  3 , Jiantong Wang  2 , Mei Shan  1 , Hongqiang Jiang  2
Affiliations

Public Concern about Haze and Ozone in the Era of Their Coordinated Control in China

Yaling Lu et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

In China, due to the implementation of the Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Air Pollution (APPCAP), the concentrations of PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) and severe haze in most cities have decreased significantly. However, at present, haze pollution in China has not been completely mitigated, and the problem of O3 (ozone) has become prominent. Therefore, the prevention and control of haze and O3 pollution have become important and noticeable issues in the field of atmospheric management. We used the Baidu search indices of "haze" and "ozone" to reflect public concerns about air quality and uncover different correlations between level of concern and level of pollution, and then we identified regions in China that require public attention. The results showed that (1) over the last decade, the search index of haze had a rapid trend of variation in line with changes in haze pollution, but that of O3 had a relatively slowly increasing trend; (2) the lag days between the peaks of public concern and the peaks of air pollution became increasingly shorter according to daily data analysis; and (3) 96 polluted cities did not receive sufficient public attention. Although periods of heavily haze-polluted weather, which affects visibility, have generated much public concern, periods of slight pollution have not received enough public attention. Public health protection and environmental participation regarding these periods of slight pollution in China deserve appropriate levels of attention.

Keywords: China; haze; ozone; public concern; zoning.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Concentrations of PM2.5 and O3 and the public concern about them: (a) concentrations of PM2.5 and O3; (b) search index of haze; (c) search index of ozone.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Search index and PI of haze and ozone in China: (a) haze search index; (b) PIhaze; (c) ozone search index; (d) PIozone.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Air quality and PI in China: (a) proportion of polluted days; (b) PI.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Four-quadrant classification of PI and air quality: (a) the four-quadrant classification of PI of haze and PM2.5 concentration; (b) the four-quadrant classification of PI of ozone and its concentration; (c) the four-quadrant classification of the comprehensive PI and proportion of polluted days.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Public concern zoning against the background of PM2.5 and ozone joint prevention and control.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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