Air pollution impacts from warehousing in the United States uncovered with satellite data.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39048550.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-50000-0 and PMC identifier 11269699.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Regulators, environmental advocates, and community groups in the United States (U.S.) are concerned about air pollution associated with the proliferating e-commerce and warehousing industries. Nationwide datasets of warehouse locations, traffic, and satellite observations of the traffic-related pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO<sub>2</sub>) provide a unique capability to evaluate the air quality and environmental equity impacts of these geographically-dispersed emission sources. Here, we show that the nearly 150,000 warehouses in the U.S. worsen local traffic-related air pollution with an average near-warehouse NO<sub>2</sub> enhancement of nearly 20% and are disproportionately located in marginalized and minoritized communities. Near-warehouse truck traffic and NO<sub>2</sub> significantly increase as warehouse density and the number of warehouse loading docks and parking spaces increase. Increased satellite-observed NO<sub>2</sub> near warehouses underscores the need for indirect source rules, incentives for replacing old trucks, and corporate commitments towards electrification. Future ground-based monitoring campaigns may help track impacts of individual or small clusters of facilities.