premature deaths

Deep Learning And Dirty Air | Earth Wise

May 6, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Poor air quality is a major global problem. According to the World Health Organization, exposure to air pollution is linked to the premature deaths of an estimated seven million people every year. In fact, 9 out of 10 people breathe air that contains more pollutants than what the WHO considers safe. Air pollution is the fourth largest threat to human health, trailing only high blood pressure, dietary risks, and smoking.

But predicting pollution levels at a given place and time remains challenging. According to a new study recently published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, scientists are turning to deep learning to improve air quality estimates.

According to researchers, satellite observations and ground observations both measure air pollution, but both have major limitations. For example, satellites may collect data at the same time and at the same location each day, but they miss how emissions may vary throughout the day. Ground-based observations from weather stations do continuously collect data, but they only do so in a limited number of locations.

As a result, scientists have turned to deep learning – a type of machine learning – to analyze the relationship between satellite and ground-based observations of nitrogen dioxide around Los Angeles. Nitrogen dioxide is associated with emissions from traffic and power plants. The researchers were able to rely on the learned relationship to take daily satellite observations and create hourly estimates of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide levels in approximately three mile grids.

According to the research team, this study could be repeated for other greenhouse gases, and applied to different cities and regions – or even whole continents.

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Scientists turn to deep learning to improve air quality forecasts

Air Pollution

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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Silent Killer | Earth Wise

April 26, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Air pollution is deadly. Studies have found that particles from air pollution can enter our lungs and bloodstream, contributing to major health conditions including heart disease, stroke, cancer, and kidney disease. Globally, air pollution is responsible for the premature deaths of millions of people every year.

The first line of defense against air pollution is ambient air quality standards. But according to researchers from McGill University, more than half of the world’s population lives without the protection of adequate air quality standards.

The research team focused on a specific type of air pollution called particulate matter 2.5 (more commonly called PM2.5). PM2.5 refers to tiny particles or droplets in the air that are two and one half microns or less in width. These tiny particles are responsible for an estimated 4.2 million premature deaths every year globally, including more than one million deaths in China, nearly 200,000 in Europe, and more than 50,000 in the United States.

In the study, which was recently published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, the researchers found that where there are air quality protections, the standards are often worse than what the WHO considers safe. Some regions with high air pollution levels, like the Middle East, don’t even measure PM2.5 air pollution. The researchers found that the weakest air quality standards are often violated, while the strictest standards are often met.

More than half of the world’s population is in urgent need of adequate air quality standards.

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Air pollution: The silent killer called PM 2.5

Photo, posted November 17, 2019, courtesy of Kristoffer Trolle via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Air Pollution Reduction And Global Warming | Earth Wise

April 13, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The world is dealing with two serious problems affecting the atmosphere: the growing levels of carbon dioxide leading to a warming climate and the effects of air pollution on human health. It turns out that these two things are connected in complicated ways.

Countries around the world are racing to mitigate global warming by limiting carbon dioxide emissions. The combustion of fossil fuels as well as wood and other biomass produces sulfate aerosols, which are associated with acid rain as well as many human health problems. Air pollution causes an estimated seven million premature deaths per year worldwide, so reducing it is imperative.

The complication is that sulfate aerosols in the upper atmosphere actually have a cooling effect on surface air temperatures. Aerosols create bigger clouds and increase light scattering, both of which result in less sunlight reaching the surface. Large natural sources of sulfate aerosols – such as volcanic eruptions – can temporarily cool the earth until they settle out of the atmosphere.

There are many kinds and sizes of atmospheric aerosols, making predicting their effects and behavior difficult. For example, black carbon aerosols from forest fires tend to suppress cloud formation by warming the air and making tiny water droplets evaporate. However, sulfate aerosols from burning fossil fuels make clouds grow larger.

Analysis has shown that air pollution has actually reduced the amount of warming that has taken place to date. A new study by Kyushu University in Japan looked at the long-term climate effects of reductions in sulfate aerosols. The loss of cooling effect from light-scattering aerosols as emissions are reduced is a factor that cannot be ignored.

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Air pollutant reductions could enhance global warming without greenhouse gas cuts

Photo, posted January 23, 2021, courtesy of Wutthichai Charoenburi via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Cost Of Air Pollution | Earth Wise

March 12, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The environmental consequences of burning fossil fuels are a dominant topic. The increasing changes in the climate have far-reaching effects across the globe and are a growing geopolitical crisis. But the climate effects of fossil fuel emissions are by no means the only problem they cause.

A new report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clear Air has, for the first time, attempted to quantify the global economic and health impacts of fossil fuel-caused air pollution. In total, the estimate is that the economic and health costs of air pollution from burning fossil fuels totaled $2.9 trillion in 2018, calculated in the form of work absences, years of life lost, and premature deaths. The cost represents 3.3 percent of global GDP, or about $8 billion per day.

The study focused on the health impacts of three specific types of pollutants: nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and fine particulate matter, which has the greater impact. Collectively, these pollutants cause about 1.8 billion days of missed work due to disease and $2.2 trillion in air pollution costs every year. Together, air pollution from these three pollutants is responsible for 4.5 million premature deaths around the world each year.

According to the report, the most premature deaths from fossil fuel-related air pollution in 2018 were in mainland China (1.8 million), India (1 million), and the United States (230,000). As a result, those three countries also faced the highest annual costs: $900 billion in China, $600 billion in the U.S., and $150 billion in India.

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Toxic Air: The Price of Fossil Fuels (Full Report)

Photo, posted November 17, 2019, courtesy of Kristoffer Trolle via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Cleaner Air Saves Lives

September 25, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A new study by Columbia University has concluded that lower air pollution levels saved an estimated 5,660 lives in New York State in 2012, compared to 2002 mortality levels.

The study looked at New York State levels of the specific type of pollution known as fine particulate matter, referred to as PM2.5. These microscopic particulates are a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets that either come from burning fuel or are formed in the atmosphere as a result of complex reactions of chemicals such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from power plants, industries, and automobiles.

Long-term exposure to PM2.5 can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular problems.

The study looked at extensive amounts of data to analyze trends in PM2.5 levels across New York State. The data showed that PM2.5 levels dropped by 28 to 37% between 2002 and 2012. This was a result of continued progress in cleaner vehicles, the reduction of high sulfur-dioxide emitting coal-burning power plants, and other air pollution reduction programs. They calculated that this amount of reduction in PM2.5 reduced the air pollution mortality burden for New York State residents by 67% – from 8,410 premature deaths in 2002 to 2,750 deaths in 2012.

The study provides evidence that emission controls on air pollutants – which were initiated by the Clean Air Act of 1970 and later expanded in 1990 – have improved public health across New York State. According to the researchers, the study is a key step to documenting the health benefits from cleaner air.

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Air Pollution Cuts Are Saving Lives in New York State

Photo, posted June 29, 2014, courtesy of Paul Comstock via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Record European Heatwave

August 1, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Sahara Desert winds blasted Europe in June, especially during a five-day heatwave that set many records. Between that and weather elsewhere, June was not only one of the hottest ever for that continent, but also for the world as a whole.

In Europe, the average temperature was about 5 degrees Fahrenheit above the June average of a century ago. The global temperature was nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit higher.

The European heatwave broke temperature records in France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and Spain. A temperature above 114 degrees was recorded near the French city of Nîmes.

The intense heat lead to wildfires in Spain and Germany, and widespread disruption across Europe. Undoubtedly, the heatwave has caused many premature deaths, but it will take some time to compile those statistics. The European heatwave of 2003 caused more than 70,000 premature deaths.

According to calculations by climate scientists, the record-breaking heatwave in June was made at least 5 and as much as 100 times more likely by climate change. Global heating caused by the carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels and other human activities means that heatwaves are becoming more probable and severe. So-called attribution studies estimate how much more likely and severe such events are.

The researchers used temperature records stretching back to 1901 to assess the probability of a heatwave last month and in the past. They also examined climate change models to assess the impact of global heating. More than 230 attribution studies to date around the world have found that 95% of heatwaves were made more likely or worse by climate change.

It was the hottest June on record in Europe by a country mile and there are likely to be more months like it in the future.

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Climate Change Made Last Month’s European Heatwave At Least Five Times More Likely

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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Smog And Solar Power

January 22, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

China has been struggling with some of the worst air pollution in the world. Beijing frequently sits under a brown blanket made of exhaust gases from industry, cars and coal fires, which dump harmful particulate matter, soot, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the air.

The human health consequences are severe. According to the World Health Organization,air pollution contributes to about 1.6 million premature deaths in China each year. World-wide, air pollution is implicated in over 7 million deaths annually.

Faced with this air pollution crisis, China has undertaken a wide variety of measures to improve its air and curb carbon dioxide emissions alongthe way. Among other things, China has invested heavily in the deployment of solar power and has plans for ever greater expansion of solar power in the future.

A study by researchers at ETH in Zurich looked at the impact of China’s air pollution on the production of solar energy. The smog in China’s cities reduces the amount of solar radiation that reaches the ground and therefore significantly reduces the power output of solar energy systems. According to the study, solar radiation would increase by an average of 11% nationwide as a result of strict air pollution control measures. In some places, cleaning up the air would result in 26% more energy production.

China’s electric power industry is the world’s largest electricity producer, having passed the United States in 2011. Two-thirds of the electricity in China still comes from coal, which, apart from the serious climate and health consequences associated with its use, continues to make it more difficult to switch to clean solar power. Much work remains to be done.

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Fighting smog supports solar power

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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.