Air Quality in the Mexico Megacity: An integrated assessment

THIS VOLUME SUMMARIZES the results of the first phase of the Integrated Programme on Urban, Regional and Global Air Pollution: Mexico City Case Study, directed by Luisa Molina of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, and Nobel laureate Professor Mario Molina. The main purpose of the programme is to provide an assessment of the causes of urban and regional air pollution problems in the megacities, and to suggest cost-effective solutions to these problems. Although focused on Mexico, the work is significant for the megacities of low- and middle-income countries generally, since they all share the need for an integrated assessment of complex environmental problems. The Mexico City Metropolitan Area is used as a representative case to illustrate the complexity of the air pollution problem and to demonstrate ways of working towards the comprehensive knowledge needed to build robust policy.
More than 50 experts in atmospheric sciences, human health, economics, and social and political sciences from both Mexico and the US have contributed to an integrated assessment of the elements needed to structure air quality policy, and have provided rigorous scientific information and an assessment of the lessons learnt from air quality management programmes to date. The volume first examines air quality as a global issue (Chapter one) and provides a comparative analysis of the Los Angeles and the Mexico City Metropolitan Area experiences (Chapter two). The following chapters then focus on the key components of the air pollution problem: the forces that drive pollution (Chapter three), its effect on health (Chapter four), the science of air pollution, including its measurement and modelling (Chapter five), and the role of the transportation sector (Chapter six). The analysis concludes with a series of specific recommendations for research and institutional change (Chapter seven) that include political, economic and social considerations so that effective pollution control measures can be efficiently developed and implemented in the short and long terms.
The message is that the air pollution problem cannot be solved with isolated measures, but requires integrated answers with a strong commitment from government. The material presented in the book has provided the foundation of the strategic planning for the new ten-year air quality management programme prepared by the Mexican authorities, and invites the leadership of other megacities with looming air pollution issues to tackle the issue in an integrated manner, through consistent and accurate assessment of air quality and its effects.