Air quality management during the G20 summit: strategies for urban pollution reduction

Changes of Urban and Suburban Air Quality Patterns during the Pandemic Year 2020: Longitudinal Evidence from Three Romanian Citie

Urban areas must develop and implement air pollution-reduction strategies in order to comply with progressively stricter air quality standards. Various measures imposed during the lockdowns associated to COVID-19 pandemic worldwide made the year 2020 an exceptional period for global air pollution: air pollutant emission patterns were significantly and differently altered. Atmospheric pollutant levels varied from the lowest to the highest values. Within this context, present study aim is to emphasize comparatively the changes in major air pollutants’ concentrations PM10, PM2.5, NO, NO2, NOx, CO, SO2, O3 in three important urban centers (Bucharest, Brașov, Iași) in Romania during 2020. The contrast in mass concentrations of major air pollutants in the urban and the suburban areas of above cities has been studied using longitudinal analysis, probability density functions and change point analysis. The study outcomes extend the knowledge about air pollution at local/regional scale and are of help in designing air pollution control strategies.

SATELLITE AND GROUND-BASED AIR QUALITY ASSESSMENT IN AL-DIWANIYAH

Objective: Ambient atmospheric pollution represents a critical threat to human health globally. Within Iraq, air quality has drastically diminished due to harsh climatic dust events and expanding unregulated anthropogenic factors. The primary goal of this investigation is to establish a thorough comparative analysis of air quality across the urban and rural sectors of Al-Diwaniyah Province. Method: A comparative cross-sectional design was carried out from mid-September 2025 through January 2026 across six strategic sampling locations. Ground-level monitoring utilized a calibrated Temtop M2000 device to log particulate metrics, while space-borne observations were acquired via the Sentinel-5P TROPOMI satellite for gaseous pollutants. A composite Z-score air quality index (AQI) evaluated safety thresholds, with statistical analysis processed through SPSS v26 software. Results: Ground measurements revealed that average PM2.5 (34.87 µg/m³) and PM10 (101.37 µg/m³) drastically outpaced WHO safety limits (p < 0.001). Satellite monitoring demonstrated a significant abundance in tropospheric NO₂ (63.54 µmol/m²) and O₃. The index classified 73.3% of the total observations as unhealthy for sensitive demographics. Urban sectors displayed significantly higher concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, and CO₂ than rural environments (p < 0.001), though rural locations showed a high prevalence (80.0%) of air quality categorized as hazardous for sensitive groups. Novelty: Al-Diwaniyah Province experiences severe atmospheric degradation. While urban centers undergo heavier pollution loads from concentrated traffic and fuel combustion, rural zones present distinct ambient threats to vulnerable populations from agricultural operations and dust.

ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN THE LEVEL OF AIR POLLUTION BY PM2.5 FINE PARTICULATE MATTER IN KYIV UNDER WARTIME IMPACT

Investigating the pollution and air quality situation in Kabul city: Focusing on the concentration of major pollutants and the air quality index

Concentration of different pollutants such as O₃ , NO₂ , SO₂ , CO, PM₁₀ , and PM2.5 in the atmosphere is called air pollution, which created several challenges in the environment and is considered one of the dangerous phenomenal in the current world, in Afghanistan urbanization in last two decades had significant impact on air quality. There is different source of air pollution in urban areas such as industries, more population, transportation system, less vegetation covers and etc. The main goal of this of this research is to analyze the pollutant levels from 2021 to 2024 in Kabul city by analyzing of six major pollutants including O₃ , NO₂ , SO₂ , CO, PM₁₀ , and PM2.5 and comparing them with national standard and by using the AQI to analyses the air quality. This is a quantitative research; data has been collected from National Environmental protection Agency air quality station based in Darulaman area of Kabul city. Significant annual and seasonal variations in pollutant concentrations were found by the results. O₃ concentrations exceeded the national norm during the winter months, ranging from 14 µg/m³ (June 2023) to 181 µg/m³ (December 2022). Particularly in late 2024, NO₂ and SO₂ exhibited significant peaks, with NO₂ reaching 258 µg/m³ and SO₂ reaching 150 µg/m³, both of which exceeded allowable limits. With maximum readings of 221 µg/m³ and 157 µg/m³, respectively, PM₁ 0 and PM₂ .5 were continuously over national norms for a number of months. According to the analysis of the Air Quality Index (AQI), PM₂ . ₅ was the main pollutant affecting the general quality of the air. The AQI rating was at its lowest (79) in September 2022 (Moderate) and at its worst (207) in January 2021 (Very Unhealthy). Seasonal trends revealed that while air quality improved somewhat during some summer months, especially in 2022, it deteriorated during the winter months of November through January. Overall, the results show a trend toward worsening air quality in 2023 and 2024, particularly as a result of particle matter pollution.

Long-Term Assessment of Ambient Air Quality, Meteorological Influence, and Transboundary Transport in a Tier-II Indian City

Spatio-temporal characterisation of air quality along the coastal regions of Kerala based on CPCB data