Meng, J;
Liu, J;
Xu, Y;
Guan, D;
Liu, Z;
Huang, Y;
Tao, S;
(2016)
Globalization and pollution: tele-connecting local primary PM₂.₅ emissions to global consumption.
Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
, 472
(2195)
, Article 20160380. 10.1098/rspa.2016.0380.
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Abstract
Globalization pushes production and consumption to geographically diverse locations and generates a variety of sizeable opportunities and challenges. The distribution and associated effects of short-lived primary fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅), a representative of local pollution, are significantly affected by the consumption through global supply chain. Tele-connection is used here to represent the link between production and consumption activity at large distances. In this study, we develop a global consumption-based primary PM₂.₅ emission inventory to track primary PM₂.₅ emissions embodied in the supply chain and evaluate the extent to which local PM₂.₅ emissions are triggered by international trade. We further adopt consumption-based accounting and identify the global original source that produced the emissions. We find that anthropogenic PM₂.₅ emissions from industrial sectors accounted for 24 Tg globally in 2007; approximately 30% (7.2 Tg) of these emissions were embodied in export of products principally from Brazil, South Africa, India and China (3.8 Tg) to developed countries. Large differences (up to 10 times) in the embodied emissions intensity between net importers and exporters greatly increased total global PM2.5 emissions. Tele-connecting production and consumption activity provides valuable insights with respect to mitigating long-range transboundary air pollution and prompts concerted efforts aiming at more environmentally conscious globalization.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Globalization and pollution: tele-connecting local primary PM₂.₅ emissions to global consumption |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1098/rspa.2016.0380 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2016.0380 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2015 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10070832 |
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