Climate change, if left unaddressed, is expected to
increase air pollution-related deaths by nearly 60,000 in 2030 and 2,60,000 in
2100 globally.
“As climate change affects air pollutant
concentrations, it can have a significant impact on health worldwide, adding to
the millions of people who die from air pollution each year,” said lead
researcher Jason West, Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill. For the study which appeared in the journal Nature Climate
Change, the team used an ensemble of several global climate models to determine
the number of premature deaths that would occur due to ozone and particulate
matter in 2030 and 2100.
For each model, the team assessed the projected
changes in ground-level air pollution that could be attributed to future
climate change. They then overlaid these changes spatially on the global
population, accounting for both population growth and expected changes in
susceptibility to air pollution. Read here Ozone pollution may cause
cardiovascular diseases
Five out of eight models predicted there will be
more premature deaths in 2030, and seven of nine models in 2100.”Our finding
that most models show a likely increase in deaths is the clearest signal yet
that climate change will be detrimental to air quality and health,” West noted.
In addition to exacerbating air pollution-related deaths, climate change is
expected to affect health through changes in heat stress, access to clean water
and food, severe storms and the spread of infectious diseases, the researchers
said.
