Impacts of intercontinental transport of anthropogenic fine particulate matter on human mortality

Anenberg, ., S.J.J. West, H. Yu, M. Chin, M. Schulz, D. Bergmann, I. Bey, H. Bian, T. Diehl, A. Fiore, P. Hess, E. Marmer, V. Montanaro, R. Park, D. Shindell, T. Takemura, and F. Dentener (2014), Impacts of intercontinental transport of anthropogenic fine particulate matter on human mortality, Air Qual. Atmo. Health, doi:10.1007/s11869-014-0248-9.
Abstract

Fine particulate matter with diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) is associated with premature mortality and can travel long distances, impacting air quality and health on intercontinental scales. We estimate the mortality impacts of 20 % anthropogenic primary PM2.5 and PM2.5 precursor emission reductions in each of four major industrial regions (North America, Europe, East Asia, and South Asia) using an ensemble of global chemical transport model simulations coordinated by the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution and epidemiologically-derived concentrationresponse functions. We estimate that while 93–97 % of avoided deaths from reducing emissions in all four regions occur within the source region, 3–7 % (11,500; 95 % confidence interval, 8,800–14,200) occur outside the source region P. Hess Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA E. Marmer Department of Education, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany V. Montanaro University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy R. Park Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea D. Shindell NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY, USA D. Shindell Columbia Earth Institute, New York, NY, USA T. Takemura Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan F. Dentener European Commission, Joint Research Center, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Ispra, Italy

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