New research based on the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) reveals how urbanization has influenced anthropogenic CO2 emissions and air pollution across the globe. jrc. ec. europa. eu/ was developed by the Joint Research Centre (EC) of the European Commission. These results showed that urban centers were responsible for a third of the global anthropogenic greenhouse gasses and the majority air pollutant emissions by 2015.From France and Italy, the authors used the EDGAR database for a country-toglobal view of the development of specific air pollutants and greenhouse gases from urban centers and other geographic entities for different types and levels of human settlement over five decades. The results were published in Environmental Research Letters, an IOP Publishing journal on July 6.Between 1975 and 2015, global population grew by 80%. The global urban population nearly doubled while the rural population grew by just 40%. All continents saw an increase in urban population. In developing and emerging areas, the fastest growth in urban population occurred. In 2015, nearly half the world's population lived in urban centers. However, the largest urban centers with over 1 million residents (which only 5% of the total global surface) housed 22% of the world population.Sustainability is all about being able to identify the source, location and nature of emission. This will allow you to design emission reduction policies and assess population exposure.The consolidated version 5 (EDGAR) represents the current state of the art in the emission inventory communities. It characterizes historical and current emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants at the national, regional, and global levels. EDGAR provides global spatio-temporal consistent data on air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions at the global level between 1970 and 2015. EDGAR spatially maps anthropogenic emissions across a global grid map at a resolution of 0.1 degrees (about 10km). This allows for the investigation of emissions and the development of place-based mitigation strategies from local to global levels.These results indicate that large amounts of global CO2 and air pollution are caused by urban centers. If we expand the definition of urban areas to include suburban areas, approximately 50% of global emissions occur in less than 1% of the world's surface. If all urban areas are included and not just urban centres, the global emissions amount to 70-80%. They are mainly caused by combustion sources. These emissions can be mitigated by taking specific actions based on their geographic location, as they are highly concentrated. Only exception to this is NH3, which accounts for over 50% of global emissions. This is mainly due to agricultural activities. In emerging economies, emissions from urban centers have increased in recent decades. However, they have decreased in high-income countries. CO, SO2 or PM10 emissions in industrialized countries have decreased due to improved energy efficiency and the application of new technologies and mitigation measures. Megacities have seen their emissions decrease in high-income countries due to effective mitigation measures, de-industrialisation and the growth of a service economy. Per-capita CO2 emissions from urban areas show significant spatial differences between different countries and cities. High-income countries have also decoupled their emissions with economic growth.Climate change is a global problem, but air quality is local. It is important to reduce urban pollution, which can have a negative impact on ecosystems and human health. Both climate and air pollution are both a matter for local action. This view shows that city-level measures can reduce PM2.5 exposure. In Europe, at least half the cities are considered to have urban action.###
