The effects of air pollution on climate, the environment, and human
health have become a major research trend in atmospheric and
epidemiologic science, and are the focus of this Special Topic.
The 10-year papers are dominated by health and epidemiological
studies. These studies examine the link between particulate air
pollution and cardiovascular and pulmonary morbidity and mortality.
Particulates including sulfates, ozone, airborne toxins, and
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are all discussed. Other notable
studies in the 10-year list include the suppression of rain and snow
by urban and industrial air pollution, the transport patterns of air
pollution from Asia to North America, and the various methods for
measuring air quality.
Health effects remain a research focus in the 2-year list, but
there is also a noticeable trend towards other studies, predominantly
air-quality studies. Results are presented for both the 2000 Texas Air
Quality Study as it pertains to ozone pollution over Houston and the
2002 New England Air Quality Study. Air-quality testing modules, such
as the Canadian Aerosol Module and the Community Multiscale Air
Quality model, are discussed. Global patterns of air pollution,
including trans-Pacific transport of particulates and the role of the
North Atlantic Oscillation in particulate movement, are studied. One
study examines the difference between weekday and weekend air
pollution in southern California. Health-related studies in the 2-year
list include those examining the possible effects of air pollution on
children with asthma, the human macrophage response to ultrafine,
fine, and coarse particulates, and a study in mice which shows that a
reduction in pollution correlates with a reduction in genetic
mutations.
Methodology
To construct this database,
papers were extracted based on title-supplied keywords for Air
Pollution. The keywords used were as follows:
air pollut*
-OR-
air quality
The baseline time span for this database
is 1995-2005 (second bimonthly). The resulting database contained 5,026 (10 years)
and 1,371 (2 years) papers; 10,710 authors; 87 countries; 898 journals; and
3,052 institutions.
Rankings
Once the database was in place,
it was used to generate the lists of top 20 papers (two- and ten-year
periods), authors, journals,
institutions, and nations, covering a time span of 1995-2005 (second
bimonthly: ten-year plus four-month period).
The top 20 papers are ranked
according to total cites. Rankings for author, journal, institution,
and country are listed in three ways: according to total cites, total
papers, and total cites/paper. The paper thresholds and corresponding
percentages used to determine
scientist, institution, country, and journal rankings according to
total cites/paper, and total papers respectively are as follows:
| Entity: |
Scientists |
Institutions |
Countries |
Journals |
| Thresholds: |
12 |
31 |
15 |
9 |
| Percentage: |
1% |
1% |
50% |
10% |
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