Chapter 21
Atmospheric Pollution: Experience
from Mexico City and Santiago de Chile
Luisa T. Molina, Wenfang Lei, Miguel Zavala, Victor Almanza,
Agustin Garcia, Pablo Saide and Marcelo Mena-Carrasco
Abstract Megacities are now a common phenomenon in many regions around the
world and present major challenges for the global environment. The concentrations of
people and their activities have resulted in higher demand for energy and consumption
of fossil fuels, leading to air pollution that affects public health and visibility, causes
regional haze and acid deposition, and alters the earth’s climate. Recent advances
in real-time pollutant measurement technologies and improved air quality models
are allowing scientists to better understand the emission sources of pollutants and
the complex atmospheric processes leading to severe air pollution, and providing
policy makers the tools for designing cost effective mitigation strategies. This study
addresses the effects of megacities and urban complexes on the Earth’s atmosphere,
using Mexico City and Santiago as examples of cities that have been actively managing their air quality. Both cities demonstrate the types of environmental problems
experienced by many urban centers and confront similar challenges to solving them.
L. T. Molina (B) · W. Lei · M. Zavala · V. Almanza
Molina Center for Energy and the Environment, La Jolla, CA, USA
e-mail: ltmolina@mce2.org; ltmolina@mit.edu
W. Lei
e-mail: wflei@mce2.org
M. Zavala
e-mail: miguelz@mce2.org
V. Almanza
e-mail: valmanza@mce2.org
A. Garcia
Center for Atmospheric Sciences, National University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
e-mail: agustin@atmosfera.unam.mx
P. Saide
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Institute of the Environment and
Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
e-mail: saide@atmos.ucla.edu
M. Mena-Carrasco
Climate Change Group, World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA
e-mail: mmenacarrasco@worldbank.org
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
C. Mensink et al. (eds.), Air Pollution Modeling and its Application XXVI,
Springer Proceedings in Complexity,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22055-6_21
127
Atmospheric Pollution: Experience
from Mexico City and Santiago de Chile
Luisa T. Molina, Wenfang Lei, Miguel Zavala, Victor Almanza,
Agustin Garcia, Pablo Saide and Marcelo Mena-Carrasco
Abstract Megacities are now a common phenomenon in many regions around the
world and present major challenges for the global environment. The concentrations of
people and their activities have resulted in higher demand for energy and consumption
of fossil fuels, leading to air pollution that affects public health and visibility, causes
regional haze and acid deposition, and alters the earth’s climate. Recent advances
in real-time pollutant measurement technologies and improved air quality models
are allowing scientists to better understand the emission sources of pollutants and
the complex atmospheric processes leading to severe air pollution, and providing
policy makers the tools for designing cost effective mitigation strategies. This study
addresses the effects of megacities and urban complexes on the Earth’s atmosphere,
using Mexico City and Santiago as examples of cities that have been actively managing their air quality. Both cities demonstrate the types of environmental problems
experienced by many urban centers and confront similar challenges to solving them.
L. T. Molina (B) · W. Lei · M. Zavala · V. Almanza
Molina Center for Energy and the Environment, La Jolla, CA, USA
e-mail: ltmolina@mce2.org; ltmolina@mit.edu
W. Lei
e-mail: wflei@mce2.org
M. Zavala
e-mail: miguelz@mce2.org
V. Almanza
e-mail: valmanza@mce2.org
A. Garcia
Center for Atmospheric Sciences, National University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
e-mail: agustin@atmosfera.unam.mx
P. Saide
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Institute of the Environment and
Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
e-mail: saide@atmos.ucla.edu
M. Mena-Carrasco
Climate Change Group, World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA
e-mail: mmenacarrasco@worldbank.org
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
C. Mensink et al. (eds.), Air Pollution Modeling and its Application XXVI,
Springer Proceedings in Complexity,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22055-6_21
127