College of Economics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, People's Republic of China.
Environ Sci Technol. 2012 Sep 4;46(17):9420-7. doi: 10.1021/es301446g. Epub 2012 Aug 17.
Human activities have intensely altered the global nitrogen cycle and produced nitrogenous gases of environmental significance, especially in China where the most serious atmospheric nitrogen pollution worldwide exists. We present a comprehensive assessment of ammonia (NH(3)), nitrogen oxides (NO(x)), and nitrous oxide (N(2)O) emissions in China based on a full cycle analysis. Total reactive nitrogen (Nr) emission more than doubled over the past three decades, during which the trend of increase slowed for NH(3) emissions after 2000, while the trend of increase continued to accelerate for NO(x) and N(2)O emissions. Several hotspots were identified, and their Nr emissions were about 10 times higher than others. Agricultural sources take 95% of total NH(3) emission; fossil fuel combustion accounts for 96% of total NO(x) emission; agricultural (51%) and natural sources (forest and surface water, 39%) both contribute to the N(2)O emission in China. Total atmospheric Nr emissions related health damage in 2008 in China reached US$19-62 billion, accounting for 0.4-1.4% of China's gross domestic product, of which 52-60% were from NH(3) emission and 39-47% were from NO(x) emission. These findings provide policy makers an integrated view of Nr sources and health damage to address the significant challenges associated with the reduction of air pollution.
人类活动强烈改变了全球氮循环，并产生了具有环境意义的含氮气体，尤其是在中国，全球最严重的大气氮污染就发生在这里。我们基于全周期分析，对中国的氨（NH3）、氮氧化物（NOx）和氧化亚氮（N2O）排放进行了全面评估。在过去的三十年中，总活性氮（Nr）排放量增加了一倍多，其中，2000 年后氨（NH3）排放量的增长趋势放缓，而氮氧化物（NOx）和氧化亚氮（N2O）排放量的增长趋势仍在继续加速。我们还确定了几个热点地区，其 Nr 排放量比其他地区高出约 10 倍。农业源占总氨（NH3）排放量的 95%；化石燃料燃烧占总氮氧化物（NOx）排放量的 96%；农业（51%）和自然源（森林和地表水，39%）均对中国的氧化亚氮（N2O）排放有贡献。2008 年中国因 Nr 排放造成的与健康相关的经济损失达到 190 亿至 620 亿美元，占中国国内生产总值的 0.4%至 1.4%，其中 52%至 60%来自氨（NH3）排放，39%至 47%来自氮氧化物（NOx）排放。这些发现为决策者提供了一个综合的 Nr 排放源和健康损害视图，以应对与减少空气污染相关的重大挑战。
