Impacts of emissions and meteorological conditions in three different phases of aerosol pollution during 2013–2022 in Anhui, China

The PM2.5 concentrations in Anhui, which links the Yangtze River Delta region, China's fastest growing economy area, with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region, China's most polluted region, are influenced not only by emissions, but also by variation of meteorological conditions. A comprehensive understanding of the relative impacts of meteorology and emissions on heavy pollution in Anhui at three phases (i.e., phase1: from 2013 to 2017; phase2: from 2018 to 2020; phase 3: from 2021 to 2022) from 2013 to 2022, which can provide suggestions for pollution prevention and control in the future. The decrease in pollutant concentrations from 2013 to 2022 is mainly attributed to the continued reduction in emissions, while the year-to-year fluctuations in pollutant concentrations are largely influenced by meteorological conditions. Although emissions are decreasing, the proportions of residential biofuel combustion and cement are increasing. In addition to the effects of prevailing northeasterly and northwesterly winds (i.e., Type1 and Type2), there is also concern about the influences of static weather and neighboring regional transport (i.e., Type5 and Type6), especially in 2016. The contribution of emissions is greater in phase 2 and phase 3, with a 17 % increase compared to phase 1. Overall, approximately 57 % of explosive growth in PM2.5 concentration during the cumulative stage (CS) can be regarded as the feedback effect of the deteriorating meteorological conditions. Therefore, statistical analyses show that limiting PM2.5 concentrations below about 73 μg m−3 would weaken the feedback effects, which in turn would avoid most of the explosive growth processes in the CS of the 60 heavy pollution processes, which can provide a reference for the government to set a target for sustained emission reduction.