Trends of PM2.5 concentrations in China: A long term approach

Although the PM2.5 levels have showing signs of improvement, even during the warming season the values are still too high in comparison with the annual environmental standards of China (35 μg m−3). Moreover, during cold seasons the north regions have values twice higher than this limit. Thus, to fulfil these standards the governmental mitigation measures need to be strongly reinforced in order to optimize the daily living energy consumption, primarily in the north regions of China and during the winter periods.