Yongming M Han

• Dr. and Prof.
• Professor at Institute of Earth Environment Chinese Academy of Sciences

Elemental carbon (EC), predominantly produced by solid fuel combustion, significantly influences both climate and public health. However, the physicochemical properties of EC-containing particles immediately after emission remain inadequately understood. This study investigates the chemical composition, size distribution, and mixing state of EC-con...

Optical properties of elemental carbon (EC) are critical for climate modeling due to its strong light absorption. Elemental carbon consists of char‐EC and soot‐EC, which differ in mass absorption efficiency (MAE). However, the MAEs of these forms remain underexplored primarily due to the limited methods available for measurement, limiting the accur...

Understanding the sources and dynamics of past biomass burning remain a significant challenge due to variations in paleofire combustion patterns across different temporal and spatial scales. This study integrates black carbon and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) records from the Lubei Plain in the Shandong Peninsula, Lower Yellow River, to rec...

Atmospheric aerosols influence clouds and precipitation by aerosol-radiation interactions (ARIs) and aerosol-cloud interactions (ACIs). In the study, the synergetic effect of ARIs and ACIs on development and precipitation for a mesoscale convective system (MCS) occurred in the Guanzhong Basin (GZB) of central China has been examined using a cloud-r...

Frequent wind erosion events in semi‐arid regions can lead to significant atmospheric microplastic (MP) emissions from croplands. We examine observed and predicted characteristics of atmospheric MPs over cropland in Northern China. Measurements showed that fibers were the predominant morphology, accounting for 69% of the 198 observed MPs. The obser...

Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs) are widespread in freshwater environments and represent a concealed threat to public health and aquatic eco-system safety. To date, only a limited number of studies have investigated the historical distribution of ARGs and their hosts through the analysis of freshwater sedimentary archives. This research gap const...

Due to the differences in paleofire combustion patterns, the sources of biomass burning remains uncertain. This study examines the sediments from the Lubei Plain in the Shandong Peninsula, Lower Yellow River, integrating black carbon analysis and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to reveal the evolution of fire ecology and human activities in...

The geochemical composition of sediment cores can serve as a proxy for reconstructing past human and nature-driven environmental and climatic changes. We investigated the temporal variation in the concentrations and...

The "Great Acceleration" beginning in the mid-20th century provides the causal mechanism of the Anthro-pocene, which has been proposed as a new epoch of geological time beginning in 1952 CE. Here we identify key parameters and their diagnostic palaeontological signals of the Anthropocene, including the rapid breakdown of discrete biogeographical ra...

Wildfires release large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, exacerbating climate change and causing severe impacts on air quality and human health. Including carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from wildfires in international assessments and national emission reduction responsibilities is crucial for global carbon reduction and environmenta...

Abstract: The “Great Acceleration” of the mid-20th century provides the causal mechanism of the Anthropocene, which has been proposed as a new epoch of geological time beginning in 1952 CE. Here we identify key parameters and their diagnostic palaeontological signals of the Anthropocene, including the rapid breakdown of discrete biogeographical ran...

Lakes act as natural reservoirs for storing organic material, and comprehending how organic carbon (OC) and black carbon (BC) are deposited in lake sediments is crucial for understanding the global carbon cycle and its impact on climate and ecosystems. In this study, we examined changes in the deposition patterns of OC and BC in Yinjia Lake (YJL) o...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287187.].

The Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) has concluded that the Anthropocene represents geological reality and should be linked with the plethora of stratigraphic proxies that initiate or show marked perturbations at around the 1950s, and should be defined using a Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP). We propose formalizing the Anthropoc...

This part of the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) submission proposes that the base of the Anthropocene should be defined as series/epoch, terminating the Holocene Series/Epoch with a single Crawfordian stage/age using a Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) in an annually varved Crawford Lake core, Ontario, Canada, defined at 17.5 cm...

Anthropogenic‐driven environmental change, including current climate warming, has influenced lake ecosystems globally during the Anthropocene. Phytoplankton are important indicators of environmental changes in lakes and play a fundamental role in maintaining the functioning and stability of these ecosystems. However, the extent to which lake phytop...

Investigating the occurrence of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) in sedimentary archives provides opportunities for reconstructing the distribution and dissemination of historical (i.e., non-anthropogenic origin) ARGs. Although ARGs in freshwater environments have attracted great attention, historical variations in the diversity and abundance of...

Based on the data of the State of Global Air (2020), air quality deterioration in Thailand has caused ~32,000 premature deaths, while the World Health Organization evaluated that air pollutants can decrease the life expectancy in the country by two years. PM2.5 was collected at three air quality observatory sites in Chiang-Mai, Bangkok, and Phuket,...

This is the Executive Summary of a report produced by the membership of the Anthropocene Working Group as part of a submission to the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy to seek formalisation of the Anthropocene as an epoch of geological time. It summarises the content of two reports and their associated appendices which provide a background t...

Human impacts on Earth’s atmosphere, hydrosphere, litosphere and biosphere are so significant as to naming a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. Lakes and their biota are highly sensitive to environmental changes. Among aquatic organisms, microbial eukaryotes play fundamental roles associated with lake ecosystem functioning, food webs, nutrient...

Incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuels yields a variety of chemically distinct pyrolysis residues collectively referred to as black carbon (BC). Among these residues, dissolved black carbon (DBC) constitutes the water-soluble fraction, making it a significant component of the global dissolved organic carbon (DOC) pool. Consequently, it e...

Tropospheric ozone significantly damages vegetation and reduces net primary productivity (NPP). We developed a stable linear NPP response model based on accumulated ozone exposure over a threshold of 40 parts per billion (ppb) (AOT40). We then estimated the effects of regional ozone damage on NPP for different vegetation types. The study suggests a...

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has health effects that may depend on its sources and chemical composition. In this study, characteristics of PM2.5 chemical composition and health risk assessment from Songyuan, China, were investigated during day and night in indoor and outdoor from February 4 to 19, 2021. Relative high concentrations of PM2.5 were...

Phytoplankton can be used as an indicator of aquatic ecological health and to monitor nutrient levels, which are the basis of formulating lake management strategies. However, long-term phytoplankton succession and their response to environmental changes remain poorly understood due to the paucity of ecological monitoring data and the limitation of...

Reconstructing historical black carbon (BC) variations based on sedimentary records are significant for understanding long-term BC emissions, tracing sources, and establishing effective strategies for pollution control. By comparing BC profiles between four lake sediment cores, historical BC variations were reconstructed on the southeast Mongolian...

Sihailongwan Maar Lake, located in Northeast China, is a candidate Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for demarcation of the Anthropocene. The lake’s varved sediments are formed by alternating allogenic atmospheric inputs and authigenic lake processes and store a record of environmental and human impacts at a continental-global sca...

Swindles et al. (2023) correctly point out that there are many conceptions of the ‘Anthropocene’ in use, and they argue that this flexibility in terminology is desirable. We agree that the multiple uses of this term have stimulated much scholarly debate, but we contend that precision in terminology is far more desirable than vagueness, and promotes...

Merritts et al. (2023) misrepresent Paul Crutzen’s Anthropocene concept as encompassing all significant anthropogenic impacts, extending back many millennia. Crutzen’s definition reflects massively enhanced, much more recent human impacts that transformed the Earth System away from the stability of Holocene conditions. His concept of an epoch (henc...

In this study, field measurement was conducted using an integrated online monitoring system to characterize heterogeneous properties and light absorption of refractory black carbon (rBC). rBC particles are mainly from the incomplete combustion of carbonaceous fuels. With the data collected from a single particle soot photometer, thickly coated (BCk...

The mid-Pleistocene transition 1.25 to 0.6 million years ago marked a major shift in global climate periodicity from 41,000 to around 100,000 years without a concomitant orbital forcing shift. Here, we investigate Asian climate dynamics associated with two extreme glacial loess coarsening events at the onset and middle of the mid-Pleistocene transi...

Brown carbon (BrC) in the atmosphere can greatly influence aerosol's radiative forcing over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) because it has the non-negligible capacity of light absorption compared to black carbon (BC); however, our understanding of optical properties, sources, and atmospheric processes of BrC in this region remains limited. In this study,...

The international Anthropocene Working Group has recognized the mid-20th centrury (ca. 1950 CE) as the onset of the Anthropocene, but human activities in China altered the land cover and influenced weathering processes much earlier. Changes in the elemental composition of sediment since 1000 CE from Gonghai Lake were studied, using X-ray Fluorescen...

The concept of the “Anthropocene” was first proposed in the early 21 st century and aroused widespread discussion in the public and geological community; however it still requires formal definition. The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) is a key tool in this process. Accurate chronology and high-resolution samples are the material...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediment cores from Phayao Lake were investigated in terms of their concentration, distribution, and potential effects on the environment and human health. The concentration of Σ16PAHs ranged from 77.6 to 1251.1 ng g-1. Additionally, low molecular weight PAHs (two or three fused aromatic rings) were domina...

Event stratigraphy is used to help characterise the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphic concept, based on analogous deep-time events, for which we provide a novel categorization. Events in stratigraphy are distinct from extensive, time-transgressive ‘episodes’ – such as the global, highly diachronous record of anthropogenic change, termed here an...

Brown carbon (BrC) in the atmosphere can greatly influence aerosol’s radiative forcing over the Tibetan Plateau (TP), because it has the non-negligible capacity of light absorption as well as black carbon (BC); however, our understanding of optical properties, sources, atmospheric processes of BrC in this region remains limited. In this study, a mu...

Few studies have been conducted on the potential sources and fate of PAH congeners in tropical lake environments. The vertical distribution of 15 PAH congeners in sediments of Songkhla Lake (SKL) and Nong Han Kumphawapi Lake (NHL) were chemically characterised and statistically investigated. The ΣPAH concentrations observed in SKL and NHL sediments...

Black carbon (BC) is one of the most important short-lived climate forcers, and atmospheric motions play an important role in determining its mass concentrations of pollutants. Here an intensive observation was launched in a typical river-valley city to investigate relationships between atmospheric motions and BC aerosols. Equivalent BC (eBC) sourc...

Event stratigraphy is used to help characterise the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphic concept, based on analogous deep-time events, for which we provide a novel categorization. Events in stratigraphy are distinct from extensive, time-transgressive ‘episodes’ – such as the global, highly diachronous record of anthropogenic change, termed here an...

Coal combustion emits large amounts of PM2.5 (particulate matter with a diameter of ≤ 2.5 μm), and the emissions from different coal types differ. Clean fuels are essential in reducing PM2.5 emissions and their respiratory effects on human. This study compared PM2.5 emissions and their chemical components from four types of coal (i.e., bituminous r...

Human activities have profoundly transformed the natural environment and the Earth system, leading to the concept of the Anthropocene. This paper summarizes the effects of human activities on the environment in China as recorded in sedimentary archives. China is divided into core and marginal areas based on their natural and societal conditions, an...

The mid-Pleistocene transition (MPT) from ~ 1.25 to ~ 0.6 million years ago (Ma) marked a major shift in periodicity of Earth’s climate variability from dominantly ~ 40- to ~ 100-thousand years (kyr) without a concomitant shift in orbital forcing. Here we advance understanding of Asian climate dynamics associated with two glacial extreme loess coar...

Previous studies have determined biomass burning as a major source of air pollutants in the ambient air in Thailand. To analyse the impacts of meteorological parameters on the variation of carbonaceous aerosols and water-soluble ionic species (WSIS), numerous statistical models, including a source apportionment analysis with the assistance of princ...

Due to the complexity of emission sources, a better understanding of aerosol optical properties is required to mitigate climate change in China. Here, an intensive real-time measurement campaign was conducted in an urban area of China before and during the COVID-19 lockdown in order to explore the impacts of anthropogenic activities on aerosol ligh...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread toxic pollutants in the atmosphere and have attracted much attention for decades. In this study, we compared the health risks of PAHs based on different toxic equivalent factors (TEFs) in a heavily polluted area during heating and non-heating periods. We also pay attention to occupancy probabil...

As an important central city in western China, Xi'an has the worst atmospheric pollution record in China and many measures have been taken to improve the air quality in the past few years. In this study, PM2.5 samples were collected across four seasons from 2017 to 2018 in Xi'an. Organic carbon and elemental carbon, water soluble ions, and elements...

Over the past few years, burning agricultural or crop residues has resulted in serious air pollution, particularly in northern Thailand. In this study, constant endeavours were made to achieve the first-hand emission factors (EFs) of water-soluble ionic species (WSIS), organic carbon, elemental carbon, and selected metals emitted from the combustio...

A single particle aerosol mass spectrometer was deployed in a heavily polluted area of China during a coronavirus lockdown to explore the impact of reduced anthropogenic emissions on the chemical composition, size distributions, mixing state, and secondary formation of urban aerosols. Ten particle groups were identified using an adaptive resonance...

Black carbon (BC) has a strong light absorption ability and is known as the second strongest light-absorbing substance in the atmosphere after CO2. Atmospheric motion plays an important role in the ambient mass concentrations of pollutants. The relationship between atmospheric motion and BC aerosols is complex, and detailed investigation of the imp...

The implementation of air pollution control measures could alter the compositions of submicron aerosols. Identifying the changes can evaluate the atmospheric responses of the implemented control measures and provide more scientific basis for the formulation of new measures. The Fen-Wei River Basin is the most air polluted region in China, and there...

To mitigate climate change in China, a better understanding of optical properties of aerosol is required due to the complexity in emission sources. Here, an intensive real-time measurement was conducted in an urban area of China before and during the lockdown of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), to explore the impacts of anthropogenic activities...

Biomass burning (BB) affects fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration and ozone (O3) formation by emitting gaseous precursors and primary aerosols. The Impacts of BB in peninsular Southeast Asia (BB‐PSEA) on PM2.5 concentration and O3 formation in southern China are evaluated using a source‐oriented WRF‐Chem model to simulate an air pollution...

Disentangling fire and its controls over thousands of years ago is a major challenge in the study of paleofires. In this paper, we synthesize sedimentary charcoal and black carbon from the coastal plain of Laizhou Bay, China to improve our ability to reconstruct fire history in the past 5000 years, and to assess the controls of fire using principal...

Intensive measurements were conducted in Xi’an, China before and during a COVID-19 lockdown period to investigate how changes in anthropogenic emissions affected the optical properties and radiative effects of brown carbon (BrC) aerosol. The contribution of BrC to total aerosol light absorption during the lockdown (13%–49%) was higher compared with...

Brown carbon (BrC) can affect atmospheric radiation due to its strong absorption ability from the near ultraviolet to the visible range, thereby influencing global climate. However, given the complexity of BrC's chemical composition, its optical properties are still poorly understood, especially in mountainous areas. In this study, the black carbon...

Plain Language Summary Due to the lockdown of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID‐19), anthropogenic activities were drastically reduced in China. A field campaign was conducted before and during the lockdown in a megacity of China. The results showed that equivalent black carbon (eBC) decreased by 51% during the lockdown compared with the normal days....

Hazardous oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OPAHs) originate from combustion (primary sources) or postemission conversion of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (secondary sources). We evaluated the global distribution of up to 15 OPAHs in 195 mineral topsoils from 33 study sites (covering 52° N–47° S, 71° W–118 °E) to identify indic...

Polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their derivatives [oxygenated PAHs (OPAHs), nitrated PAHs (NPAHs), and azaarenes (AZAs)] are toxic and ubiquitous air pollutants. In this study, the concentrations of these PACs were determined in air obtained in spring and autumn of 2012 from urban and rural a...

Source-specific optical properties of light-absorbing carbonaceous (LAC) aerosols in the atmosphere are poorly understood because they are generated by various sources. In this study, a receptor model combining multi-wavelength absorption and chemical species was used to explore the source-specific optical properties of LAC aerosols in a tropical m...

Disentangling the role of natural and anthropogenic factors is a major challenge in paleofire studies. Here, we introduce the molecular biomarkers of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs), combined with charcoal and black carbon in sediments of archaeological sites, to identify anthropogenic signals of environmental change during the middle Holoce...

An improved understanding of the historical variation in the emissions and sources (biomass burning, BB vs. fossil fuel combustion) of soot and char, the two components of black carbon (BC), and polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) may help in assessing environmental effects of the Atmospheric Brown Cloud (ABC) in SE Asia. We therefore determined h...

This study investigated atmospheric particulate matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter of < 2.5 µm (PM2.5) observed at the Prince of Songkla University (Phuket Campus) in southern Thailand. All samples (n = 75) were collected using MiniVol™ portable air samplers from March 2017 to February 2018. Carbonaceous aerosol compositions, i.e., organic ca...

In this study, PM2.5-bound carbonaceous compounds, including organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), water-soluble ionic species (WSIS), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the ambient air of Bangkok were analysed. The mean PM2.5 concentration was 77.0 ± 21.2 μg m⁻³, while the average concentrations of OC, and EC were 8.03 ± 4.02, an...