Half of the world's population exposed to increasing air pollution


Date:
June 17, 2020
Source:
University of Exeter
Summary:
Half of the world's population is exposed to increasing air
pollution, new research has shown.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Half of the world's population is exposed to increasing air pollution,
new research has shown.


==========================================================================
A team of researchers, led by Professor Gavin Shaddick at the University
of Exeter, has shown that, despite global efforts to improve air quality,
vast swathes of the world's population are experiencing increased levels
of air pollution.

The study, carried out with the World Health Organisation, suggests
that air pollution constitutes a major, and in many areas increasing,
threat to public health.

The research is published in leading journal Climate and Atmospheric
Science on Wednesday, June 17th 2020.

Professor Shaddick, Chair of Data Science & Statistics at the University
of Exeter said: "While long-term policies to reduce air pollution have
been shown to be effective in many regions, notably in Europe and the
United States, there are still regions that have dangerously high levels
of air pollution, some as much as five times greater than World Health Organization guidelines, and in some countries air pollution is still increasing." The World Health Organization has estimated that more than
four million deaths annually can be attributed to outdoor air pollution.

Major sources of fine particulate matter air pollution include the
inefficient use of energy by households, industry, the agriculture and transport sectors, and coal-fired power plants. In some regions, sand
and desert dust, waste burning and deforestation are additional sources
of air pollution.

Although air pollution affects high and low-income countries alike,
low- and middle-income countries experience the highest burden, with
the highest concentrations seen in Central, Eastern Southern and
South-Eastern Asia.

For the study, the research team examined trends in global air quality
between 2010 and 2016, against a backdrop of global efforts to reduce
air pollution, both through short and long term policies.

The team used ground monitoring data together with information from
satellite retrievals of aerosol optical depth, chemical transport models
and other sources to provide yearly air quality profiles for individual countries, regions and globally.

This methodology constitutes a major advance in the ability to track
progress towards the air quality-related indicators of United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals, and to expand the evidence base of the
impacts of air pollution on health.

Professor Shaddick added: "Although precise quantification of the outcomes
of specific policies is difficult, coupling the evidence for effective interventions with global, regional and local trends in air pollution
can provide essential information for the evidence base that is key in informing and monitoring future policies."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Exeter. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. G. Shaddick, M. L. Thomas, P. Mudu, G. Ruggeri, S. Gumy. Half
the world's
population are exposed to increasing air pollution. npj Climate
and Atmospheric Science, 2020; 3 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41612-020-0124-2 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200617090958.htm

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