Airborne bacteria are an influential component of the Earth’s microbiomes, but their community structure and biogeographic distribution patterns have yet to be understood. We analyzed the bacterial communities of 370 air particulate samples collected from 63 sites around the world and constructed an airborne bacterial reference catalog with more than 27 million nonredundant 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences. We present their biogeographic pattern and decipher the interlacing of the microbiome co-occurrence network with surface environments of the Earth. While the total abundance of global airborne bacteria in the troposphere (1.72 × 10 ²⁴ cells) is 1 to 3 orders of magnitude lower than that of other habitats, the number of bacterial taxa (i.e., richness) in the atmosphere (4.71 × 10 ⁸ to 3.08 × 10 ⁹ ) is comparable to that in the hydrosphere, and its maximum occurs in midlatitude regions, as is also observed in other ecosystems. The airborne bacterial community harbors a unique set of dominant taxa (24 species); however, its structure appears to be more easily perturbed, due to the more prominent role of stochastic processes in shaping community assembly. This is corroborated by the major contribution of surface microbiomes to airborne bacteria (averaging 46.3%), while atmospheric conditions such as meteorological factors and air quality also play a role. Particularly in urban areas, human impacts weaken the relative importance of plant sources of airborne bacteria and elevate the occurrence of potential pathogens from anthropogenic sources. These findings serve as a key reference for predicting planetary microbiome responses and the health impacts of inhalable microbiomes with future changes in the environment.

In recent years, the “coal to electricity” project (CTEP) using clean energy instead of coal for heating has been implemented by Beijing government to cope with air pollution. However, VOC pollution after CTEP was rarely studied in suburbs of Beijing. To fill this exigency, 116 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were observed during nonheating (P1) and heating (P2) periods in suburban Beijing. The results showed that the total of VOCs (TVOCs) was positively correlated with PM_2.5, PM₁₀, NO₂, CO, and SO₂ but negatively correlated with O₃ and wind speed. The average TVOCs concentration was 19.43 ± 12.41 ppbv in P1 and 16.25 ± 8.01 ppbv in P2. Aromatics and oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs) were the main contributors to ozone formation potential (OFP). Seven sources of VOCs identified by the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model were industrial source, coal combustion, fuel evaporation, gasoline vehicle exhaust, diesel vehicle exhaust, background and biogenic sources, and solvent usage. The contribution of coal combustion to VOCs increased significantly during P2, whereas industrial sources, fuel evaporation, and solvent usage exhibited opposite trends. The potential source contribution function (PSCF) and concentration weighted trajectory (CWT) were used to analyze the source distributions. The results showed that VOC pollution was caused mainly by air mass from southern Hebei during P1 but by local emissions during P2. Therefore, although the contribution of coal combustion after heating increased, TVOCs concentration during P2 was lower than that during P1. Chronic noncarcinogenic risks of all selected VOC species were below the safe level, while the carcinogenic risks of most selected VOC species were above the acceptable risk level, especially for tetrachloromethane and 1,2-dichloroethane. The cancer risks posed by gasoline vehicle emissions, industrial enterprises, and coal combustion should be paid more attention.

Knowledge of the chemical structures and optical properties of water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) is critical considering its involvement in many key aerosol-associated chemical reactions and its potential impacts on climate radiative forcing. This study investigates the coupled effects of pH and particle size on the chemical structures (functional groups) and optical properties (UV/fluorescence properties) of WSOC and further explores the source and aging of WSOC constituents. The results showed that the specific UV absorbance at a wavelength of 254 nm (SUVA₂₅₄) and mass absorption efficiency at a wavelength of 365 nm (MAE₃₆₅) were higher in smaller than larger particles, revealing the relatively higher aromaticity/molecular weight and more freshness of WSOC in smaller particles. A decrease in aromaticity/molecular weight of WSOC in larger particles was caused by the degradation reaction that occurred during the aging process. The carboxylic groups tend to be enriched in larger particles, whereas the contribution of phenolic groups was generally higher in smaller particles. The changes in the fluorescence peak position suggested that hydroxyl groups play a leading role in pH-responsive fluorescence in summer, while carboxylic and nitro groups play a dominant role in winter. Overall, the chromophores in smaller particles showed a more pronounced pH dependence, which might be related to the higher content of aromatic species in WSOC in these particle size ranges. Specifically, the climate impact of WSOC would be enhanced with increasing pH. The pH- and particle-size-dependent chemical and optical properties of WSOC provide insights into the structure, source, and aging of WSOC, which will ultimately improve the accuracy of assessing the climate effects of WSOC.