Quantifying the Health Effects of Air Pollution Globally
Globally, roughly 4.5 million people die prematurely each year because of exposure to ambient particulate matter and ozone pollution – 1 in 12 deaths globally. How do we know that air pollution affects health and how do we quantify deaths? Here I will discuss the how we learn from atmospheric sciences and health effects sciences to understand air pollution health effects and challenges these communities face going forward. I will also present examples of assessments of health impacts based on atmospheric modeling from my lab – estimating the global burden of disease, the contributions of emission sectors, trends in air pollution-related deaths, deaths attributable to climate change, and the air quality and health co-benefits of global greenhouse gas reductions.