Association of PM2.5 pollution with the pattern of human activity: A case study of a developed city in eastern China

ABSTRACTRecently, air pollution has attracted a substantial amount of attention in China, which can be influenced by a variety of factors, but the association between air pollution and human activity is not quite clear. Based on real-time online data (January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2014) of air pollution and meteorology reported by official sites, and demographic, economic, and environmental reform data in a statistical yearbook, the influences of meteorological factors (temperature, relative humidity, precipitation intensity, and wind force) and human activities on PM2.5 pollution were explored. After correlation analysis, logistic regression analysis, and a nonparametric test, weak negative correlations between temperature and PM2.5 pollution were found. In most cases, festival and morning peak hours were protection and risk factors of PM2.5 pollution, respectively. In addition, government actions, such as an afforestation project and increasing financial expenditure for energy saving and environmenta...