Abstract
In early 2016, Mexico City suffered from repeated severe episodes of high ozone concentrations. Tropospheric ozone is a secondary compound produced by precursors such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. However, other conditions such as cloud coverage, solar radiation, humidity, wind speed, and temperature play a significant role on the rate at which ground-level ozone forms. During periods of low precipitation, that is, March through May 2016, Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) witnessed high concentrations of tropospheric ozone. We look at the correlation between the occurrence of El Niño events, meteorological conditions, and ground concentration of ozone. We also describe other features of MCMA that can contribute to explain this deterioration of air quality as well as discuss health and economic costs this may entail. We finally address some public policies that may help reduce low air quality in this and other metropolitan areas.
Keywords
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
IMECAS stands for the Metropolitan Index of Air Quality and compares absolute values to the norm set by the WHO . Values equal to the norm are represented as 100. Values above the norm are above 100.
References
Bernard SM, Samet JM, Grambsch A, Ebi KL, Romieu I (2001) The potential impacts of climate variability and change on air pollution-related health effects in the United States. Environ Health Perspect 109(Supplement 2):199–209
Bravo H, Sosa R, Sánchez P, Bueno E, González L (2002) Concentrations of benzene and toluene in the atmosphere of the southwestern area at the Mexico City Metropolitan Zone, Atmos Environ 36(23):3843–3849. ISSN 1352-2310, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1352-2310(02)00292-3
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) (2010) Economic Instruments in the waste management sector. Experiences from OECD and Latin American Countries. Report prepared by Green Budget Germany on behalf of GmbH. Berlin. Disponible en: http://www.foes.de/pdf/2010%20FOES%20Economic%20Instruments%20Waste%20Management%20final.pdf
Hansen J, Sato M, Ruedy R, Lo K, Lea DW, Medina-Elizade M (2006) Global temperature change. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103(39):14288–14293
INECC (2016) Evolución de la Calidad del Aire en la ZMVM y episodios de ozono durante la temporada seca-caliente 2016. Informe Técnico, SEMARNAT
IPCC (2007) Climate Change 2007: synthesis report. contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental ¨Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, Pachauri RK, Resinger A (eds)]. IPCC, Geneva, 104 pp
Jacob DJ, Winner DA (2009) Effect of climate change on air quality. Atmos Environ 43(1):51–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2008.09.051
Landa G, Reynès F, Islas I, Bellocq F, Grazi F (2016) Towards a low carbon growth in Mexico: is a double dividend possible? A dynamic general equilibrium assessment. Energy Policy 96(2016):314–327. www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol
Margolis S (1991) Back-of-the-envelope estimates of environmental damage costs in Mexico. Working paper IDP104. The World Bank, Washington, DC
Molina LT, Madronich S, Gaffney JS, Apel E, de Foy B, Fast J, Ferrare R, Herndon S, Jimenez JL, Lamb B, Osornio-Vargas AR, Russell P, Schauer JJ, Stevens PS, Volkamer R, Zavala M (2010) An overview of the MILAGRO2006 campaign: Mexico City emissions and their transport and transformation. Atmos Chem Phys 10(8697–8760):2010. doi:10.5194/acp-10-8697-2010
SCJN (2015) Gaceta del Semanario de la Suprema Corte de la Nación, No. 25894. México D.F. http://sjf.scjn.gob.mx/SJFSist/paginas/DetalleGeneralScroll.aspx?id=25894&Clase=DetalleTesisEjecutorias&IdTe=2010225
SEDEMA (2016), http://www.aire.cdmx.gob.mx/estadisticas-consultas/concentraciones/index.php
WHO World Health Organization, Air quality guidelines global update. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs313/en/
Zavala M, Lei W, Molina MJ, Molina LT (2009) Modeled and observed ozone sensitivity to mobile-source emissions in Mexico City. Atmos Chem Phys 9:39–55
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ibarrarán, M.E., Islas, I., Ortínez, J.A. (2018). Compounding Factors: Air Pollution and Climate Variability in Mexico City. In: Akhtar, R., Palagiano, C. (eds) Climate Change and Air Pollution. Springer Climate. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61346-8_22
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61346-8_22
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-61345-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-61346-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)