Researchers examined the effects of ammonia (NH3) emissions in China and found that reducing half of NH3 emissions by improving agricultural production management may exacerbate acid rain by decreasing rainfall pH up to 1.0 unit, although reducing 15% of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions in the near future could increase rainfall pH by 0.1-0.5 units; however, reducing 50% of NH3 emissions while reducing 15% of SO2 and NOx emissions could also reduce 34% of nitrogen deposition and 11-17% of fine particle (PM2.5) pollution; hence, emission control strategies should be regional and based on whether a region has high levels of acid rain or PM2.5 pollution, according to the authors.
Article #18-14880: "Ammonia emission control in China would mitigate haze pollution and nitrogen deposition, but worsen acid rain," by Mingxu Liu et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Yu Song, Peking University, Beijing, CHINA; tel: 86-10-6275-5343; email: songyu@pku.edu.cn
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences