articleProceedings of the National Academy of SciencesJan 29, 2024HYBRID OA

Reassessing the role of urban green space in air pollution control

ZSZander S. VenterAHAmirhossein HassaniESErik StangePSPhilipp SchneiderNCNúria Castell

Norwegian Institute for Nature Research · NILU

PubMed
Indexed incrossrefpubmed

Abstract

The assumption that vegetation improves air quality is prevalent in scientific, popular, and political discourse. However, experimental and modeling studies show the effect of green space on air pollutant concentrations in urban settings is highly variable and context specific. We revisited the link between vegetation and air quality using satellite-derived changes of urban green space and air pollutant concentrations from 2,615 established monitoring stations over Europe and the United States. Between 2010 and 2019, stations recorded declines in ambient NO 2 , (particulate matter) PM 10 , and PM 2.5 (average of −3.14% y −1 ), but not O 3 (+0.5% y −1 ), pointing to the general success of recent policy…

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161
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29.84
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100%
References
57
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Authors

5

Topics & keywords

Topics
Keywords
  • Air quality index
  • Environmental science
  • Air pollution
  • Context (archaeology)
  • Vegetation (pathology)
  • Atmospheric sciences
  • Particulates
  • Meteorology
UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • Sustainable cities and communities
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