environmental climate change
Climate change, extreme weather events, air pollution and respiratory health in Europe (De Sairo)
• Europe; one of the most vulnerable regions for climate scenarios.
• Heat wave episodes: synergistic effect of air pollution and high temperatures
• Allergen patterns are also changing in response to climate change: air pollution can modify the allergic potential of pollens
• Heath consequences: decrease in lung function to allergic disease, new onset of diseases, exacerbation of chronic respiratory diseases, premature death
• Climate change and air pollution are intrinsically connected since greenhouse gases and air pollutants originate from the same source
• See figure 1 in De Sairo text
• The correlation between climate and air quality is important for the ozone, as ozone levels are directly driven by weather since ozone-generating photochemical reactions to air pollutants need high temperatures and bright sunshine
• Respiratory health effects: o Respiratory diseases are on rise especially allergic diseases (asthma, rhinitis) o Respiratory health is affected not only by air pollution but also by weather conditions, especially in population over 75 years (considering high and very low temperatures) o Different institutions found different outcomes:
Multicenter APHEA study found ozone effects on respiratory mortality only in summer. Seasonal differences in the effect of pollutants other than ozone such as black smoke, sulfur dioxide, whose effects on respiratory deaths were also found to be higher in summer.
Single-city studies provided results, with a significant effect on respiratory deaths all year around
• Air pollution and wildfire: during wildfire, levels of PM are usually well above the background pollution level for the area and usually beyond air quality standards. o Wildfires are usually episodes of short duration, the length of exposure may be too short to detect health effects (however one can say that the respiratory system
• Europe; one of the most vulnerable regions for climate scenarios.
• Heat wave episodes: synergistic effect of air pollution and high temperatures
• Allergen patterns are also changing in response to climate change: air pollution can modify the allergic potential of pollens
• Heath consequences: decrease in lung function to allergic disease, new onset of diseases, exacerbation of chronic respiratory diseases, premature death
• Climate change and air pollution are intrinsically connected since greenhouse gases and air pollutants originate from the same source
• See figure 1 in De Sairo text
• The correlation between climate and air quality is important for the ozone, as ozone levels are directly driven by weather since ozone-generating photochemical reactions to air pollutants need high temperatures and bright sunshine
• Respiratory health effects: o Respiratory diseases are on rise especially allergic diseases (asthma, rhinitis) o Respiratory health is affected not only by air pollution but also by weather conditions, especially in population over 75 years (considering high and very low temperatures) o Different institutions found different outcomes:
Multicenter APHEA study found ozone effects on respiratory mortality only in summer. Seasonal differences in the effect of pollutants other than ozone such as black smoke, sulfur dioxide, whose effects on respiratory deaths were also found to be higher in summer.
Single-city studies provided results, with a significant effect on respiratory deaths all year around
• Air pollution and wildfire: during wildfire, levels of PM are usually well above the background pollution level for the area and usually beyond air quality standards. o Wildfires are usually episodes of short duration, the length of exposure may be too short to detect health effects (however one can say that the respiratory system