Research report 2015 - Max Planck Institute for Chemistry

Beijing winter haze and its formation mechanism

Authors
Cheng, Yafang; Su, Hang; Pöschl, Ulrich
Departments
Forschungsgruppe „Aerosole und regionale Luftqualität” & Forschungsgruppe „Wechselwirkungen zwischen Wolken und Biosphäre”
Summary
Extreme haze episodes shrouded Beijing during the winter of 2013, causing major environmental and health problems. We show that the severe winter haze was driven by stable synoptic meteorological conditions rather than by an abrupt change of emissions; the fast build-up of PM2.5 in Beijing was mainly controlled by the atmospheric transport; and the production of secondary aerosols is enhanced during the haze periods. This enhancement cannot be explained by the weakened photochemistry suggesting a missing source of PM2.5, which is likely the heterogeneous reaction.

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