Spatiotemporal Evolution Patterns of the Regional Meteorological Environment, Air Pollution and Its Synergistic Health Effects in the Yangtze River Delta Region, China

Over the past decade, China’s industrialization and urbanization have accelerated rapidly, leading to the extensive consumption of fossil fuels and the accumulation of atmospheric pollutants, which pose significant health risks to the population. This study analyses the spatiotemporal evolution patterns of major air pollutants over the past decade based on data from meteorological- and environmental-factor monitoring from various observation stations in the Yangtze River Delta region of China from 2018 to 2024, as well as air pollution monitoring and statistical data such as mortality rates of weather-sensitive diseases and socioeconomic attributes of patients. Based on mathematical models, a quantitative ‘dose–response’ relationship is established among meteorological factors, air pollution factors and mortality rates of sensitive diseases within the region. (1) PM2.5 and ozone are the primary air pollutants in the Yangtze River Delta region, with significant self-correlation characteristics in pollutants observed in coastal areas and regions around provincial capitals. (2) The synergistic effects of temperature + NO2 and relative humidity + SO2 significantly impact mortality from sensitive diseases, while the cumulative lag effect of relative humidity on respiratory diseases exhibits a V-shaped temporal variation. (3) Pollutant cumulative lag effects are pronounced, with a 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 leading to a 0.93% and 0.71% rise in the mortality risks of non-accidental and circulatory system diseases over the lag period of 15 days, compared to a single-day lag, showing an additional 0.06% and 0.04% increase, respectively.