Climate change, extreme weather events, air pollution and respiratory health in Europe
De Sario, M., Katsouyanni, K., & Michelozzi, P. (2013). Climate change, extreme weather events, air pollution and respiratory health in Europe. European Respiratory Journal, 42(3), 826-843.
The countries in the west are the most vulnerable to air pollution when it is compared to the rest of the world. This is proven by the significant effect of respiratory diseases that have affected a majority of the population both independently and synergistically due to weather conditions that are caused by air pollution. Studies on air pollution that have been conducted in Europe show a synergistic effect of air pollution. Apart from that, there are other causes of air pollution in Europe, which are unknown such as wildfires and dust storms. In Europe, there are multidimensional climate–pollution–allergen effects that need to be taken care of in order to set up a public health action that will help face both the future and current pollution changes.
Nam, K. M., Selin, N. E., Reilly, J. M., & Paltsev, S. (2010). Measuring welfare loss caused by air pollution in Europe: A CGE analysis. Energy Policy, 38(9), 5059-5071.
In the evaluation of the socio-economic impacts of air pollution in the European countries, studies show that even where air the air quality is relatively high, the health problems that are caused by air pollution are substantial. Europe experiences a great loss in terms of total consumption due to the accumulated effects of air pollution for three decades. Research shows that Europe can save up to 49 billion Euros in the year 2020 if it managed to set an air quality improvement policy. This will also reduce the number of health problems that are related to air pollution in Europe.
Rive, N. (2010). Climate policy in Western Europe and avoided the costs of air pollution control. Economic Modelling, 27(1), 103-115.
Research shows that the abatement of carbon dioxide emissions in Europe will help reduce air pollutants, such as particulate matter like dust and Sulphur-based gases. Air pollution in Europe has been considered to be the highest in the world based on the fact that there are three decades of air pollution effects that affect the country. The results of the abatement of carbon dioxide depend heavily on the policy choices that are made by the countries in Europe, and their magnitude relative to the total costs. This is likely to decline as greenhouse targets become more ambitious.
Winiwarter, W., & Klimont, Z. (2011). The role of N-gases (N2O, NOx, NH3) in cost-effective strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution in Europe. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 3(5), 438-445.
In Europe, the main gas that causes air pollution is reactive nitrogen compounds, and it has multiple effects as a greenhouse gas. One of the things that have made this possible is that there has been neglect of the nitrogen compounds that are released into the atmosphere in Europe. Recent scientific studies show that the abatement of nitrogen compounds in the atmosphere is decisive for a cost-effective reduction of the effect that is caused by air pollution, such as the effects of nitrogen deposition on the ecosystem. Apart from that, it reduces the contribution of nitrogen-based compounds on secondary ozone, particulate matter and the associated health effects.
Koolen, C. D., & Rothenberg, G. (2019). Air pollution in Europe. ChemSusChem, 12(1), 164-172.
The effects of air pollution are felt by most of the people in the world. It had even affected most f the people in the past; for example, in 1952, there was a large cloud of sulphate aerosols which covered London for only two days but managed to claim the lives of 12000 people. Research shows that air pollution has a very significant effect on countries in the west. Air pollution in Europe is a result of several compounds such as ammonia, NOx, SOx, non‐methane volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter. This has caused a lot of effects on both the environment and human health.