The PM2.5 concentration in 31% of China's territorial areas was less than 10 μg/m3, and in 26% of China's territorial areas was higher than 35 μg/m3. High concentrations of PM2.5 were found in the East China Plain, Sichuan province, and the Taklimakan desert. East China Plain was also found with strong significant positive trends. 73% of artificial surface (L01) was found with significant positive trends, but only 2% with significant negative trends. 76% of cropland (L02) was observed with significant positive trends, but only 2% with significant negative trends. The mean significant trends of PM2.5 concentration were 1.81 μg/m3·year for L01 and 1.71 μg/m3·year for L02, higher than that for the rest land covers. The PM2.5 pollution brought potential health risk to susceptible population: only 1% of thm lives at a safe level (<10 μg/m3), but 69% of them were exposed to heavy PM2.5 pollution (>35 μg/m3).

Phenology is believed to be a suitable bio-indicator to track climate change. Based on the strong statistical association between phenology and temperature phenological observations provide an inexpensive means for the temporal and spatial analysis of the urban heat island. However, other environmental factors might also weaken this relationship. In addition, the investigation of urban phenology allows an estimation of future phenology from current information since cities with their amplified temperatures may serve as a proxy for future conditions. Nevertheless, the design of spatial compared to long-term studies might be influenced by different factors which should be taken into consideration when interpreting results from a specific study. In general, plants located in urban areas tend to flush and bloom earlier than in the countryside. What are the consequences of these urban–rural differences? This review will document existing findings on urban phenology and will highlight areas in which further research is needed.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of putrescible urban waste for energy recovery has seen rapid growth over recent years. In order to ascertain its systems scale sustainability, however, determination of the environmental fate of the large volume of digestate generated during the process is indispensable. This paper evaluates the environmental burdens to air associated with land applied food-based digestate in terms of primary pollutants (ammonia, nitrogen dioxide) and greenhouse gases (methane and nitrous oxide). The assessments have been made in two stages – first, the emissions from surface application of food-based digestate are quantified for the business as usual (BAU). In the next step, environmental burden minimisation potentials for the following three mitigation measures are estimated – mixed waste digestate (MWD), soil-incorporated digestate (SID), and post-methanated digestate (PMD). Overall, the mitigation scenarios demonstrated considerable NH3, CH4 and N2O burden minimisation potentials, with positive implications for both climate change and urban pollution.

Both China and UNEP recommend replacing raw coal chunks with coal briquettes in household sector as clean coal technology (CCT), which has been confirmed by the decreased emissions of particulate matter and black carbon. However, the clean effect has never been systematically checked by other pollutants like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In this study, 5 coals with different geological maturities were processed as both chunks and briquettes and burned in 3 typical coal stoves for the measurement of emission factors (EFs) of particle-bound PAHs. It was found that the EFs of 16 parent PAHs, 26 nitrated PAHs, 6 oxygenated PAHs, and 8 alkylated PAHs for coal briquettes were 6.90 ± 7.89, 0.04 ± 0.03, 0.65 ± 0.40, and 72.78 ± 18.23 mg/kg, respectively, which were approximately 3.1, 3.7, 1.9, and 171 times those for coal chunks, respectively. Such significant increases in PAH emissions increased human health risk and challenged the policy of CCT.

Oil spill models are combined with bathymetric, meteorological, oceanographic, and geomorphological data to model a series of oil spill accidents in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. A total of 104 oil spill simulations, computed for 11 different locations in the Levantine Basin, show that oil slicks will reach the coast of Cyprus in four (4) to seven (7) days in summer conditions. Oil slick trajectories are controlled by prevailing winds and current eddies. Based on these results, we support the use of chemical dispersants in the very few hours after large accidental oil spills. As a corollary, we show shoreline susceptibility to vary depending on: a) differences in coastline morphology and exposure to wave action, b) the existence of uplifted wave-cut platforms, coastal lagoons and pools, and c) the presence of tourist and protected environmental areas. Mitigation work should take into account the relatively high susceptibility of parts of the Eastern Mediterranean.

The implications of biochar aging regarding their material properties as well as their interactions with other contaminants are not vivid. We report the role of biochar aging on sorption behavior of di-alkyl phthalates (PAEs). Biochars used in this study were produced from peanut-shell and their aging was simulated by chemical oxidation. The structural composition and morphology of the obtained biochars, before and after oxidation with HNO3/H2SO4, were analyzed by element composition, XPS, DRIFT, and SEM/EDX. Several experimental results unequivocally showed oxygen enrichment in the mixed acid treated samples compared to their precursors. Despite surface area reduction and pore destruction, increased PAEs sorption on oxidized biochar surfaces portrayed existence of strong PAEs binding sites. The adsorption of PAEs on oxidized biochar surface is a cumulative influence of hydrophobic interactions and pi–pi electron donor–acceptor interactions. Our results suggest that imminent aging of biochar upon environmental exposure may change their sorbent properties.

This study reports the occurrence and distribution of organophosphorus flame retardants and plasticizers (OPEs) in the Elbe and Rhine rivers. A special focus of this investigation concerns the potential impacts of a major flood event in 2013 on the OPE patterns and levels in the Elbe River. In this river, 6 of 13 OPEs were detected, with tris-ethyl-phosphate (TEP, 168 ± 44 ng/L), tris-1,3-dichloro-2-propyl-phosphate (TDCPP, 155 ± 14 ng/L) and tris-1-chloro-2-propyl phosphate (TCPP, 126 ± 14 ng/L) identified as the dominant compounds. Relative to previous studies, an increase in the concentrations and relative contributions of TDCPP to the total level of OPEs was observed, which was likely caused by its increased use as a replacement for the technical pentaBDE formulation. During the flood event, the concentrations of OPEs were similar to the normal situation, but the mass fluxes increased by a factor of approximately ten (∼16 kg/d normal versus ∼160 kg/d flood peak). No input hotspots were identified along the transects of the Elbe and Rhine rivers, and the mass flux of OPEs appeared to be driven by water discharge.

Accurate measurements of wet mercury (Hg) deposition are critically important for the assessment of ecological responses to pollutant loading. The Hg in wet deposition was measured over a 3-year period in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. The volume-weighted mean (VWM) total Hg (HgT) concentration was somewhat lower than those reported in other regions of the Tibetan Plateau, but the VWM methyl-Hg concentration and deposition flux were among the highest globally reported values. The VWM HgT concentration was higher in non-monsoon season than in monsoon season, and wet HgT deposition was dominated by the precipitation amount rather than the scavenging of atmospheric Hg by precipitation. The dominant Hg species in precipitation was mainly in the form of dissolved Hg, which indicates the pivotal role of reactive gaseous Hg within-cloud scavenging to wet Hg deposition. Moreover, an increasing trend in precipitation Hg concentrations was synchronous with the recent economic development in South Asia.

In this work, agricultural and background soil concentrations of p,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDE, HCB, α-, β- and γ-HCH from 1993 to 2012 were collected from 73 peer-reviewed publications, and analysed statistically. For the period 2003–2012 and for all chemicals, the mean concentration in agricultural soil is significantly higher than the concentration in background soil. In addition to the statistical analysis, concentrations of p,p′-DDT and α-HCH in soils were calculated with a global environmental fate and transport model. A decrease in the mean soil concentration from the first decade to the second was observed with the model, but this decrease is not visible in the measured concentrations, which could result from ongoing use of p,p′-DDT and α-HCH Furthermore, modelled background soil concentrations are generally lower than measurements. This implies that background soil may have received p,p′-DDT and α-HCH through additional routes not described by the model such as spray drift.