The Impact of Winter Heating on Air Pollution in China

Fossil-fuel combustion related winter heating has become a major air quality and public health concern in northern China recently. We analyzed the impact of winter heating on aerosol loadings over China using the MODIS-Aqua Collection 6 aerosol product from 2004–2012. Absolute humidity (AH) and planetary boundary layer height (PBL) -adjusted aerosol optical depth (AOD(*)) was constructed to reflect ground-level PM(2.5) concentrations. GIS analysis, standard statistical tests, and statistical modeling indicate that winter heating is an important factor causing increased PM(2.5) levels in more than three-quarters of central and eastern China. The heating season AOD(*) was more than five times higher as the non-heating season AOD(*), and the increase in AOD(*) in the heating areas was greater than in the non-heating areas. Finally, central heating tend to contribute less to air pollution relative to other means of household heating.