ESTIMATING HEALTH CO-BENEFITS OF CLIMATE POLICIES IN CHINA: AN APPLICATION OF THE REGIONAL EMISSIONS-AIR QUALITY-CLIMATE-HEALTH (REACH) FRAMEWORK

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (03) ◽  
pp. 2041004
Author(s):  
CHENFEI QU ◽  
XI YANG ◽  
DA ZHANG ◽  
XILIANG ZHANG
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Statistical Life ◽  
Premature Deaths ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
Regional Emissions ◽  
The Impact

Climate policies can bring local air quality and health co-benefits, which may partially or entirely offset the costs of implementing these policies. In this study, we introduce an integrated health co-benefits assessment model, the Regional Emissions-Air quality-Climate-Health (REACH) Modeling Framework, which is capable of evaluating the impact of policies on air pollution-related mortality and morbidity in the whole economic system overtime at the provincial level for China. We first provide a detailed description of the modeling framework and conduct a case study to estimate the health benefits of different climate policy scenarios. We show that a scenario consistent with the 2∘C target that peaks China’s emissions before 2025 could avoid around 190 thousand premature deaths in 2030. The health benefits could partially or fully cover the policy costs under different assumptions of the value of a statistical life (VSL). Our framework also illustrates that estimated costs and health benefits distribute unevenly across regions in China.

scholarly journals Avoided Mortality Associated with Improved Air Quality from an Increase in Renewable Energy in the Spanish Transport Sector: Use of Biofuels and the Adoption of the Electric Car

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1603
Author(s):  
Ana R. Gamarra ◽  
Yolanda Lechón ◽  
Marta G. Vivanco ◽  
Mark Richard Theobald ◽  
Carmen Lago ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Transport Sector ◽  
Population Exposure ◽  
Baseline Scenario ◽  
Premature Deaths ◽  
Electric Car ◽  
The Impact

This paper assesses the health impact, in terms of the reduction of premature deaths associated with changes in air pollutant exposure, resulting from double-aim strategies for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants from the transport sector for the year 2030 in Spain. The impact on air quality of selected measures for reducing emissions from the transport sector (increased penetration of biofuel and electric car use) was assessed by air quality modeling. The estimation of population exposure to NO2, particulate matter (PM) and O3 allows for estimation of associated mortality and external costs in comparison with the baseline scenario with no measures. The results show that the penetration of the electric vehicle provided the largest benefits, even when the emissions due to the additional electricity demand were considered.

scholarly journals The impact of ship emissions on air quality and human health in the Gothenburg area – Part 1: 2012 emissions

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 7509-7530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Tang ◽  
Martin O. P. Ramacher ◽  
Jana Moldanová ◽  
Volker Matthias ◽  
Matthias Karl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Ship Emissions ◽  
The North ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Premature Deaths ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

Abstract. Ship emissions in and around ports are of interest for urban air quality management in many harbour cities. We investigated the impact of regional and local ship emissions on urban air quality for 2012 conditions in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, the largest cargo port in Scandinavia. In order to assess the effects of ship emissions, a coupled regional- and local-scale model system has been set up using ship emissions in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea as well as in and around the port of Gothenburg. Ship emissions were calculated with the Ship Traffic Emission Assessment Model (STEAM), taking into account individual vessel characteristics and vessel activity data. The calculated contributions from local and regional shipping to local air pollution in Gothenburg were found to be substantial, especially in areas around the city ports. The relative contribution from local shipping to annual mean NO2 concentrations was 14 % as the model domain average, while the relative contribution from regional shipping in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea was 26 %. In an area close to the city terminals, the contribution of NO2 from local shipping (33 %) was higher than that of road traffic (28 %), which indicates the importance of controlling local shipping emissions. Local shipping emissions of NOx led to a decrease in the summer mean O3 levels in the city by 0.5 ppb (∼2 %) on average. Regional shipping led to a slight increase in O3 concentrations; however, the overall effect of regional and the local shipping together was a small decrease in the summer mean O3 concentrations in the city. In addition, volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from local shipping compensate up to 4 ppb of the decrease in summer O3 concentrations due to the NO titration effect. For particulate matter with a median aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 2.5 µm (PM2.5), local ship emissions contributed only 3 % to the annual mean in the model domain, while regional shipping under 2012 conditions was a larger contributor, with an annual mean contribution of 11 % of the city domain average. Based on the modelled local and regional shipping contributions, the health effects of PM2.5, NO2 and ozone were assessed using the ALPHA-RiskPoll (ARP) model. An effect of the shipping-associated PM2.5 exposure in the modelled area was a mean decrease in the life expectancy by 0.015 years per person. The relative contribution of local shipping to the impact of total PM2.5 was 2.2 %, which can be compared to the 5.3 % contribution from local road traffic. The relative contribution of the regional shipping was 10.3 %. The mortalities due to the exposure to NO2 associated with shipping were calculated to be 2.6 premature deaths yr−1. The relative contribution of local and regional shipping to the total exposure to NO2 in the reference simulation was 14 % and 21 %, respectively. The shipping-related ozone exposures were due to the NO titration effect leading to a negative number of premature deaths. Our study shows that overall health impacts of regional shipping can be more significant than those of local shipping, emphasizing that abatement policy options on city-scale air pollution require close cooperation across governance levels. Our findings indicate that the strengthened Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECAs) fuel sulphur limit from 1 % to 0.1 % in 2015, leading to a strong decrease in the formation of secondary particulate matter on a regional scale was an important step in improving the air quality in the city.

Air quality and health benefits of China’s current and upcoming clean air policies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Cheng ◽  
Dan Tong ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Yu Bo ◽  
Bo Zheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
Premature Deaths ◽  
Majority Population ◽  
Clean Air

We estimated China's clean air policies could ensure majority population lives below 35μg m−3, avoiding ∼95.0 thousand premature deaths in 2030.

scholarly journals Assessment of emission scenarios for 2030 and impacts of black carbon emission reduction measures on air quality and radiative forcing in Southeast Asia

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 3321-3334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Didin Agustian Permadi ◽  
Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh ◽  
Robert Vautard
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Emission Reduction ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Agricultural Crop ◽  
Activity Data ◽  
Premature Deaths ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Our previously published paper (Permadi et al. 2018) focused on the preparation of emission input data and evaluation of WRF–CHIMERE performance in 2007. This paper details the impact assessment of the future (2030) black carbon (BC) emission reduction measures for Southeast Asia (SEA) countries on air quality, health and BC direct radiative forcing (DRF). The business as usual (BAU2030) projected emissions from the base year of 2007 (BY2007), assuming “no intervention” with the linear projection of the emissions based on the past activity data for Indonesia and Thailand and the sectoral GDP growth for other countries. The RED2030 featured measures to cut down emissions in major four source sectors in Indonesia and Thailand (road transport, residential cooking, industry, biomass open burning) while for other countries the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5) emissions were assumed. WRF–CHIMERE simulated levels of aerosol species under BAU2030 and RED2030 for the modeling domain using the base year meteorology and 2030 boundary conditions from LMDZ-INCA. The extended aerosol optical depth module (AODEM) calculated the total columnar AOD and BC AOD for all scenarios with an assumption on the internal mixing state. Under RED2030, the health benefits were analyzed in terms of the number of avoided premature deaths associated with ambient PM2.5 reduction along with BC DRF reduction. Under BAU2030, the average number of the premature deaths per 100 000 people in the SEA domain would increase by 30 from BY2007 while under RED2030 the premature deaths would be cut down (avoided) by 63 from RED2030. In 2007, the maximum annual average BC DRF in the SEA countries was 0.98 W m−2, which would increase to 2.0 W m−2 under BAU2030 and 1.4 W m−2 under RED2030. Substantial impacts on human health and BC DRF reduction in SEA could result from the emission measures incorporated in RED2030. Future works should consider other impacts, such as for agricultural crop production, and the cost–benefit analysis of the measures' implementation to provide relevant information for policy making.

scholarly journals Biomarkers and indoor air quality: A translational research review

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Araliya M. Senerat ◽  
Sheila M. Manemann ◽  
Nicholas S. Clements ◽  
Robert D. Brook ◽  
Leslie C. Hassett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Research Review ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Reactive Protein ◽  
Indoor Air Pollutants ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Introduction: Air pollution is linked to mortality and morbidity. Since humans spend nearly all their time indoors, improving indoor air quality (IAQ) is a compelling approach to mitigate air pollutant exposure. To assess interventions, relying on clinical outcomes may require prolonged follow-up, which hinders feasibility. Thus, identifying biomarkers that respond to changes in IAQ may be useful to assess the effectiveness of interventions. Methods: We conducted a narrative review by searching several databases to identify studies published over the last decade that measured the response of blood, urine, and/or salivary biomarkers to variations (natural and intervention-induced) of changes in indoor air pollutant exposure. Results: Numerous studies reported on associations between IAQ exposures and biomarkers with heterogeneity across study designs and methods. This review summarizes the responses of 113 biomarkers described in 30 articles. The biomarkers which most frequently responded to variations in indoor air pollutant exposures were high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), von Willebrand Factor (vWF), 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), and 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP). Conclusions: This review will guide the selection of biomarkers for translational studies evaluating the impact of indoor air pollutants on human health.

scholarly journals Changes in Air Quality during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Associated Health Benefits in Korea

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (23) ◽  
pp. 8720
Author(s):  
Ji Hoon Seo ◽  
Ji Soo Kim ◽  
Jinho Yang ◽  
Hyunjun Yun ◽  
Minwoo Roh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Anthropogenic Emissions ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Premature Deaths ◽  
Control Actions ◽  
Health Loss ◽  
The World

The COVID-19 pandemic was caused by a highly contagious coronavirus that has triggered worldwide control actions such as social distancing and lockdowns. COVID-19 control actions have resulted in improved air quality locally and around the world in the short-term by limiting human activity. We analyzed the impacts of social distancing and transboundary pollutants on air quality changes using open data and examined the corresponding health benefits focusing on two domestic cities (Seoul and Daegu) in Korea where the spread of coronavirus was severe. During the COVID-19 pandemic, PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 concentrations decreased significantly by 31%, 61%, and 33%, respectively, compared to the previous three years. In particular, the PM2.5/PM10 ratio fell 24.5% after the implementation of social distancing, suggesting a decrease in anthropogenic emissions. Moreover, we found that the air quality index (AQI) also improved significantly, with a focus on reducing exposure to sensitive groups. In Seoul and Daegu, improved air quality prevented 250 and 78 premature deaths, and health costs were USD 884 million and USD 278 million, respectively. On the other hand, health loss due to COVID-19 deaths was in sharp contrast to USD 7.1 million and USD 543.6 million. Our findings indicate a significant association between COVID-19 prevalence patterns and health outcomes.

scholarly journals Air quality resolution for health impact assessment: influence of regional characteristics

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 969-978 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Thompson ◽  
R. K. Saari ◽  
N. E. Selin
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
Health Benefit ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Regional Characteristics ◽  
Human Health Impacts ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. We evaluate how regional characteristics of population and background pollution might impact the selection of optimal air quality model resolution when calculating the human health impacts of changes to air quality. Using an approach consistent with air quality policy evaluation, we use a regional chemical transport model (CAMx) and a health benefit mapping program (BenMAP) to calculate the human health impacts associated with changes in ozone and fine particulate matter resulting from an emission reduction scenario. We evaluate this same scenario at 36, 12 and 4 km resolution for nine regions in the eastern US representing varied characteristics. We find that the human health benefits associated with changes in ozone concentrations are sensitive to resolution. This finding is especially strong in urban areas where we estimate that benefits calculated using coarse resolution results are on average two times greater than benefits calculated using finer scale results. In three urban areas we analyzed, results calculated using 36 km resolution modeling fell outside the uncertainty range of results calculated using finer scale modeling. In rural areas the influence of resolution is less pronounced with only an 8% increase in the estimated health impacts when using 36 km resolution over finer scales. In contrast, health benefits associated with changes in PM2.5 concentrations were not sensitive to resolution and did not follow a pattern based on any regional characteristics evaluated. The largest difference between the health impacts estimated using 36 km modeling results and either 12 or 4 km results was at most ±10% in any region. Several regions showed increases in estimated benefits as resolution increased (opposite the impact seen with ozone modeling), while some regions showed decreases in estimated benefits as resolution increased. In both cases, the dominant contribution was from secondary PM. Additionally, we found that the health impacts calculated using several individual concentration–response functions varied by a larger amount than the impacts calculated using results modeled at different resolutions. Given that changes in PM2.5 dominate the human health impacts, and given the uncertainty associated with human health response to changes in air pollution, we conclude that, when estimating the human health benefits associated with decreases in ozone and PM2.5 together, the benefits calculated at 36 km resolution agree, within errors, with the benefits calculated using fine (12 km or finer) resolution modeling when using the current methodology for assessing policy decisions.

Moving towards ambitious climate policies: Monetised health benefits from improved air quality could offset mitigation costs in Europe

2015 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 252-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Schucht ◽  
Augustin Colette ◽  
Shilpa Rao ◽  
Mike Holland ◽  
Wolfgang Schöpp ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
Mitigation Costs

scholarly journals Air quality resolution for health impacts assessment: influence of regional characteristics

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 14141-14161 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Thompson ◽  
R. K. Saari ◽  
N. E. Selin
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Regional Characteristics ◽  
Human Health Impacts ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. We evaluate how regional characteristics of weather, population, and background pollution might impact the selection of optimal model resolution when calculating the human health impacts of changes to air quality. Using an approach consistent with air quality policy evaluation, we use a regional chemical transport model (CAMx) and a health benefits mapping program (BenMAP) to calculate the human health impacts associated with changes in ozone and fine particulate matter resulting from an emissions reduction scenario. We evaluate this same scenario at 36, 12 and 4 km resolution for nine regions in the Eastern US representing varied characteristics. We find that the human health benefits associated with changes in ozone concentrations are sensitive to resolution, especially in urban areas where we estimate that benefits calculated using coarse resolution results are on average two times greater than benefits calculated using finer scale results. In three urban areas we analyzed, results calculated using 36 km resolution modeling fell outside the uncertainty range of results calculated using finer scale modeling. In rural areas the influence of resolution is less pronounced with only an 8% increase in the estimated health impacts when using 36 km resolution over finer scales. In contrast, health benefits associated with changes in PM2.5 concentrations were not sensitive to resolution and did not follow a pattern based on any regional characteristics evaluated. The largest difference between the health impacts estimated using 36 km modeling results and either 12 or 4 km results was at most ±10% in any region. Several regions showed increases in estimated benefits as resolution increased (opposite the impact seen with ozone modeling) due to a higher contribution of primary PM in those regions, while some regions showed decreases in estimated benefits as resolution increased due to a higher contribution of secondary PM. Given that changes in PM2.5 dominate the human health impacts we conclude that human health benefits associated with decreases in ozone plus PM2.5, when calculated at 36 km resolution are indistinguishable from the benefits calculated using fine (12 km or finer) resolution modeling in the context of policy decisions.

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