Increase in global air pollution: atmospheric model calculates changes in air quality over the coming decades

Hot summer days in large cities very seldom cause great happiness among the inhabitants. On those days the air is highly polluted with automobile and industrial emissions that makes breathing difficult and hazardous.

According to the latest calculations by scientist Andrea Pozzer of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, this scenario could become true for most of world population in 2050 if no counteractive measures are taken.

China, North India and the Middle East are expected to be affected by a drastic decrease in air quality.

In 2050, the air quality worldwide will be as bad as it already is nowadays in urban areas of South-east Asia. This is the result of a simulation of the atmosphere done by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, the Institute of Atmospheric Physics and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.

The chemical atmospheric model EMAC used by the researchers for their current study is the first to include all five major air pollutants known to negatively impact human health - nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers which are regarded as particularly harmful.

Air pollution is one of the major current health risks for humanity.