Investigation on hazy weather during the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games
2010年广州亚运会期间灰霾天气分析

The characteristics of hazy weather during the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games were analyzed using local meteorological data. Five hazy days were observed in November 2010, which frequency lower than the average level of recent years. An analysis of meteorological pollution conditions indicated that the dispersion conditions in 2010 were worse than those in 2008 and 2009. This implied that the emission reduction measures put in place prior to the Asian Games had been effective. As a comparison, since the early 1980s, visibility in Guangzhou has sharply degraded with increasing numbers of haze days. The hazy days mainly appeared in the dry season from October to April. Since the reform and opening-up of China, November had seen an increasing number of hazy days, with the highest reaching 17 days in 1994 and 1999. In the years after 2000, the number of haze days in November peaked at 12 days in 2005 and the lowest number was only 3 days observed in 2002 and 2003. The worsening trend of air quality in Guangzhou is of great concern and the air pollution complex is getting more serious in the Pearl River Delta. The prominent regional feature has increased management difficulties in air pollution control. Cities neighboring with Guangzhou, such as Foshan, Qingyuan, Dongguan, and Jiangmen, had more occurrences of hazy weather than Guangzhou, complicating pollution control in Guangzhou. In summary, the significant decrease in hazy days in November 2010 suggested the effectiveness of various control measures, such as region-wide emission control, odd-even car ban, managing major industrial pollution sources, and banning open burning of waste and crop residues.