More bad air days for Southern and Eastern cities of the U.S.
Philadelphia, PA—A new study released today by PennEnvironment, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and some of the nation's top medical experts projects that residents in 10 U.S. cities will experience significantly fewer healthy air days as hotter temperatures caused by global warming speed the formation of the lung-damaging air pollutant commonly known as smog.
"The air in many of our nation's cities is already unhealthy. Hotter weather is going to make it a lot worse for millions of Americans," said Nathan Willcox, Energy & Clean Air Advocate for PennEnvironment. "People with asthma are especially at risk, but everyone is adversely harmed by breathing unhealthy air. This research provides another compelling reason to establish enforceable limits on pollution."
The study, Heat Advisory: How Global Warming Causes More Bad Air Days, confirms that hotter temperatures mean more smog. Smog is formed when pollutants from cars, factories, and other sources mix with sunlight and heat. This means more people would be forced to restrict outdoor activities, while those with asthma and other respiratory illnesses face serious threats.
Scientists say average temperatures will warm as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century unless we start cutting global warming emissions soon.
Heightened smog levels trigger asthma attacks and pose health threats to children and the elderly in particular. For people with asthma, smog pollution can increase sensitivity to allergens.
The analysis* was prepared by researchers at Yale University, Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University, in collaboration with researchers at the State University of New York at Albany and University of Wisconsin-Madison, and looked at the following cities located in the eastern and southern half of the U.S.:
• Asheville, NC
• Cleveland, OH
• Columbus, OH
• Greenville, SC
• Memphis, TN
• Philadelphia, PA
• Raleigh, NC
• Virginia Beach, VA
• Washington, DC
• Wilmington, NC
In Pennsylvania, the study found that Philadelphia will experience six additional days per summer that exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 8-hour air quality standard.
Researchers project that, unless action is taken to curb global warming, by mid-century people living in a total of 50 cities in the eastern United States will see:
• A doubling of the number of unhealthy “red alert” days;
• A 68 percent (5.5 day) increase in the average number of days exceeding the health-based 8-hour ozone standard established by EPA; and
• A 15 percent drop in future summers in the number of summer days with “good” air quality based on U.S. EPA criteria because of global warming.
Changes from year to year in the severity of smog pollution are thought to result largely from variations in weather. For example, the relatively high levels of ozone in the United States during 1988 and 1995 were likely due in part to hot, dry, and stagnant conditions. Conversely, in 2003 we experienced one of our cleanest ozone years, coinciding with an unusually cool, wet summer in the East.
Scientists say the Earth is warming faster today than at any time in history. Globally, eleven of the last 12 years rank among the 12 warmest on record since 1850. Better technology in our cars, trucks and SUVs, and cleaner, more efficient energy choices like wind and solar power will help reduce carbon emissions that cause global warming as well as smog forming emissions like nitrogen oxide (NOx) gases, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), sulfur oxide (SOx) gas and particulates.
"We must commit to cutting our global warming pollution by 80% by 2050 to avoid the worst effects of global warming," said Nathan Willcox. "We applaud U.S. Representatives Brady, Fattah, Patrick Murphy, Schwartz and Sestak for cosponsoring the Safe Climate Act, and Senator Bob Casey, Jr. for cosponsoring the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act. We’re calling on the remaining members of Pennsylvania's Congressional delegation and Sen. Specter to join in cosponsoring these important pieces of legislation."
(*Bell ML, R Goldberg, C Hogrefe, PL Kinney, K Knowlton, B Lynn, J Rosenthal, C Rosenzweig, JA Patz., 2007. Climate change, ambient ozone, and health in 50 US cities. Climatic Change 82:61-76.)
PennEnvironment is an environmental advocacy organization with roughly 15,000 citizen members across Pennsylvania. Additional information about PennEnvironment’s work on global warming and other environmental issues can be found at www.PennEnvironment.org.
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.2 million members and online activists, served from offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beijing. More information on NRDC is available at its Web site: www.nrdc.org.
