Up to 250,000 poor air quality deaths could be prevented each year in central and Western Europe by 2050 if greenhouse gas emissions are considerably reduced, according to researchers.
A study of atmospheric scientists from the University of Leeds revealed that the number of deaths could be considerably reduced, but only if there is a strong accent on the reduction of greenhouse gases and air pollutants.
In addition to seeing that a strong attenuation of the climate would lead to a significant reduction in air quality mortality, the team also discovered that it reduces the inequitable burden on air quality mortality in more private parts of Europe. Their results are published in The future of the earth.
The main author Connor Clayton, a doctorate. The student of the Earth and Environment School and the Priestley Center for Climate Futures, said: “The strategies that political decision -makers adopt to mitigate climate change will have considerable implications for human exposure to air quality, including the number of deaths.
“But they must also urgently take into account the persistent inequity of the exposure between richer populations and more disadvantaged populations, which continues to be a problem even if air pollution has reduced through Europe. »»
Poor air quality is the largest environmental risk factor for early death, resulting in around 8 million deaths per year in the world, according to a recent analysis of the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.
The World Health Organization has recently declared that almost all body organs can be affected by air pollution and that, due to their small size, some pollutants enter the blood circulation via the lungs and circulate throughout the body, leading to systemic inflammation and carcinogenicity.
Exposure to air pollution can lead to brain vascular accidents, ischemic heart disease, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, lung cancer, pneumonia, diabetes, cognitive disorders, dementia and neurological diseases. There is also evidence linking exposure to air pollution at an increased risk of unfavorable results in terms of pregnancy, such as low birth weight.
Estimates of future mortality in Europe by air pollution often reach hundreds of thousands per year, but vary depending on the methodology used.
The team examined the health impacts in Europe in 2014 and 2050 of exposure to harmful fine particles, which can penetrate deep into the lungs, and ozone at the surface, which forms when sunlight interacts with certain pollutants such as nitrogen oxides.
-They examined three scenarios, with weak, medium and high levels of action taken by decision -makers to fight against climate change. A detailed atmospheric chemistry model was used to simulate future air quality in 2050.
They have found that private regions of Europe currently have proportionately higher mortality rates of air pollution than less disadvantaged regions, but that the emissions reductions would reduce this inequality.
An average level of action to combat climate change has proven more beneficial for private regions, because the emphasis was more concentrated on the reductions in emissions from the housing, industry and transport sectors.
A high level of action, which also included reductions in agricultural emissions, would lead to improvements in air quality through the continent as well as an improvement in equity and a much greater reduction in mortality as a whole.
Looking at 2014, researchers found that fine particles were generally higher in central and eastern Europe than in Western Europe, with particularly high concentrations in the PO valley in Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in southern Poland.
In future scenarios where measures have been taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the quantity of fine particles has decreased, with the most important reductions in Central Europe-especially in the southwest of Germany-and in certain urban centers, such as Paris.
Fine particle discounts were the highest in the scenario where Co2 The emissions were seriously reduced, reaching Net Zero after 2050. This scenario resulted in a reduction of 90% in the southwest of Germany and Paris.
Dr. Jim McQuid, who led research, added: “This work provides evidence that there is direct advantages for the health of the grip with a low carbon economy.
“Air pollutants and gases and climatic warming aerosols are only one, the same, it is two sides of the same medal. It was particularly good to see that those who suffer the most from air pollution currently benefit the most from the advantages of driving to a net zero world. »»
Researchers think that their results suggest instructions that decision -makers could take to ensure that public health is protected and is managed fairly while Europe considers how to attenuate climate change.
