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In the arctic, extreme air pollution kills trees, limits growth by reducing sunlight

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Respro® UK Ltd

An international team of scientists that includes a USDA Forest Service scientist based in New Hampshire used tree rings to document how “Arctic dimming,” the interference with sunlight caused by extreme pollution such as that at an industrial complex in northern Siberia, is killing trees and possibly affecting how trees respond to climate change.
The study, “Arctic Dimming and the Divergence Problem,” was published this week by the journal Ecology Letters. Kevin T. Smith, a supervisory plant physiologist with the Forest Service’s Northern Research Station, is the sole North American co-author of the study; lead author is Alexander V. Kirdyanov of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
The research team used dendroecology, dendrochemistry, and process-based forward modelling to explore the relationship of tree growth and mortality with industrial pollution at the Norilsk mining complex in northern Siberia; the complex is regarded as the most heavily polluted site on Earth. Their study describes the spatial and temporal dimensions of massive tree mortality associated with development of the industrial complex.
The study also sought to explain “The Divergence Problem,” a phenomenon in which scientists observed a surprising decline in tree growth despite increasing temperatures – normally a positive catalyst for tree growth – in the Arctic. They attribute the breakdown of the correlation between tree growth and climate in northern latitudes to “Arctic dimming,” the loss of direct sunlight available for photosynthesis due to interference by aerosol pollutants from Norilsk and other industrial centers in the Northern Hemisphere.
“Forests encircling the Arctic are important for a number of reasons, including their role in shaping the planet’s carbon cycle and climate system,” Smith said. “This study demonstrates the enormous scale of forest-atmosphere-industrial interactions, and it also demonstrates how much we can learn about trees and future of forests from the ecological and chemical history we find in tree rings.”
In the arctic, extreme air pollution kills trees, limits growth by reducing sunlight | EurekAlert! Science News

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‘Hidden cost’ of wildfire smoke: Stanford researchers estimate up to 3,000 indirect deaths

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Respro® UK Ltd

More than two dozen people have died as a direct result of California’s devastating wildfires so far this year. But the actual number of lives lost because of them may have been much higher.
Researchers at Stanford University estimate that the pollution from an unprecedented stretch of heavy wildfire smoke is likely to have led to at least 1,200, and up to 3,000, deaths in California between Aug 1. and Sept. 10 that otherwise would not have occurred.
They refer to these deaths — among people 65 and older, many of whom had underlying conditions — as “excess deaths.”
“You could think of it as the hidden cost of air pollution exposure,” said Marshall Burke, an associate professor of earth system science at Stanford whose team estimated the impacts.
Burke’s team was interested in the potential health costs, mortality in particular, for the people in California subject to poor air quality for almost a month straight. They used two numbers: one that tracked how bad the air quality was, and another that would estimate the likely health toll of prolonged exposure. For that estimate, they relied on existing literature about air pollution exposure and mortality from detailed Medicare data.
Burke said the estimate by his team has not been peer-reviewed, and the actual data on mortality will not be available for several months. Also, he said, it’s not known whether the pandemic could further increase the number of excess deaths, or decrease the estimate, considering that many people were already staying inside to keep safe from the coronavirus.
But Burke said his prediction is that the pandemic has likely made the numbers even worse.
“There’s evidence that exposure to air pollution worsens COVID-19 outcomes,” he said. “People are already more vulnerable than they would have been otherwise and now they’re exposed to this very extreme stressor for a month.”
The state’s record-breaking heat also could have been a factor, Burke said, as some who lacked air conditioning may have resorted to opening their windows and forgoing air pollution recommendations.
“There’s this socioeconomic and racial gradient to COVID-19 outcomes,” he said. “We see much worse outcomes among many minority groups … often they live in houses where air pollution more readily infiltrates, so even if they were at home, likely they would have been more exposed than their wealthier neighbors.”
Dr. Stephanie Christenson, an assistant professor and pulmonologist at UC San Francisco, said the research by Burke’s team tracks with the large body of evidence that already exists around exposure to wildfire smoke and mortality.
She said it’s even more likely, given the increased hospitalizations and the cumulative effect of many wildfire seasons in California, that the team is underestimating the actual toll of this recent period of poor air quality.
‘Hidden cost’ of wildfire smoke: Stanford researchers estimate up to 3,000 indirect deaths – SFChronicle.com

Posted in Air Quality, Health Effects of Air Pollution, USA, USA & Canada | Tagged Air Pollution, California, Health Effects of Air Pollution, smoke, USA, wildfires | Leave a comment

Researchers claim long-term exposure to air pollution in China killed 30.8 million people between 2000 and 2016

Posted on September 23, 2020 by Respro® UK Ltd

County-level premature deaths attributable to long-term PM2.5 exposures in China in 2000 and 2010. The small box shows the islands in the South China Sea. Credit: Yang Liu.

A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in China and one in the U.S. has found evidence that suggests as many as 30.8 million people suffered premature deaths in China over the years 2000 to 2016 due to breathing polluted air. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their study of air pollution levels in China and premature death rates for people with lung ailments and what they found.
A significant amount of research has been conducted over the past century to understand what happens when people breathe different types of polluted air. In virtually all cases, the impact is negative. People develop lung illnesses and die younger than they would have otherwise. In this new effort, the researchers looked to better understand the actual toll that breathing polluted air is having on people living in China, a country known for its high levels of air pollution.
To learn more, the researchers studied satellite images from NASA to help them gage the level of pollution in different parts of China over the years 2000 to 2016. More specifically, they measured concentrations of PM2.5, which are particles in the air that are less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. The team also used data from pollution emission monitoring stations in China and maps that showed the locations of roads and factories known to be heavy polluters. They also looked at ground cover in the areas under study because it helps remove pollutants from the air. To make premature death estimates for China, they used data from prior studies that have published premature death rates due to varying amounts of air pollution exposure.
The team compared the average concentration levels of PM2.5 across the country with population levels to calculate likely deaths due to pollution in the air. Their calculations showed that between 1.5 and 2.2 million people died prematurely in China every year due to high concentrations of PM2.5 over the years 2000 to 2016, for a total of approximately 30.8 million premature deaths overall. They noted also that exposure to high concentrations of PM2.5 can lead to a host of health problems, diminishing the quality of life for those exposed to it.
Researchers claim long-term exposure to air pollution in China killed 30.8 million people between 2000 and 2016

Posted in Air Quality | Tagged Air Pollution, China, Health Effects of Air Pollution, PM2.5, Research | Leave a comment

Doctors alarmed by surge in hospital visits as toxic smoke engulfs west coast

Posted on September 21, 2020 by Respro® UK Ltd

Northern California health system reports surge in cases as region endures weeks of dangerous air

A month after hundreds of wildfires started spewing toxic smoke along the west coast, doctors are seeing the alarming health effects of air pollution.
In northern California’s Stanford Health Care system, hospital admissions have jumped by 12% in recent weeks, including a stunning 43% increase in cerebrovascular conditions such as strokes. In Oregon, health officials reported nearly one out of 10 people visiting the emergency room had asthma-like conditions due to the smoke. And in San Francisco, doctors had to cancel their clinics for recovering Covid-19 patients, because the air was so unhealthy that just getting to their appointments could make patients more sick.
A growing body of scientific evidence paints a dire picture of the effects of wildfire smoke on the human body. Experts told the Guardian earlier this month that the smoke can have an almost immediate effect on people’s health, causing asthma, heart attacks, kidney problems and even mental health issues to surge.
Now, as the west coast reckons with an unprecedented stretch of hazardous air, scientists and health experts are growing even more concerned about the immediate and longterm consequences of continuous exposure to the harmful pollution.
In the Bay Area, despite firefighters gaining control of the nearest blazes started by lightning strikes in August, smoky conditions have persisted, turning the sky orange and keeping people inside their homes.
“We’re on the 30th consecutive day of our ‘Spare the Air’ alerts,” said Kristina Chu of the Bay Area air quality management district on Wednesday. “That’s an all-time record,” she explained; the previous longest was 14 days.

After a month steeped in orange-brown air filled with dangerous tiny particles emitted by the wildfires, patients with pre-existing lung or heart conditions were at particular risk for hospitalization or even premature death, health officials in California said.
“We’ve now had a month of severe exposure to smoke and the levels have been very high,” said Dr Mary Prunicki, director of research for Stanford’s Sean N Parker Center for Allergy & Asthma Research.
At Stanford’s health centers, doctors told the Guardian they had seen a troubling rise in overall hospitalizations, as well as an increase in specific conditions.
Bibek Paudel, a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford’s asthma clinic, has been following the rise in hospitalizations. In the first two weeks after smoke pollution permeated the Bay Area’s air, he calculated an extra 500 people had been admitted to Stanford’s hospitals compared with what would normally be expected – 12% more than the two weeks before the fires. After three weeks of bad air, he could detect an 14% increase in the number of heart patients hospitalized, an 18% percent increase in kidney conditions and a 17% increase in asthma hospitalizations.

“The smoke and the number of intense fires has gone up and up,” he said, noting that the California fire season has just begun. “I expect it will go up even more.”
The most alarming finding was the 43% increase in strokes and other cerebrovascular hospitalizations, which could be related to inflammation brought on by the pollution, the researchers said.
The research also shows a 15% increase in hospitalizations for substance abuse disorders and a small uptick in other mental health hospital intakes.
“People were already dealing with the stress of Covid-19,” said Prunicki. “And I read that there has been an increase in alcohol use. This just may be a tipping point.”
Prunicki said researchers were just beginning to understand the many detrimental effects that the smoke ingredients, known as particulate matter 2.5, have on the body.

“Fine particles [in the smoke] go to the bottom of your lungs, then can cross over to the bloodstream and go anywhere in your body,” said Prunicki. She co-authored an earlier study that showed even healthy teenagers see an increase in the markers of inflammation in their bloodstreams during periods of wildfire smoke exposure.
“I don’t know that we have it figured out on a cellular level, but we see dysregulation and we know that pollution is causing inflammatory changes throughout your body,” she said.
Scientists are still working to understand the long-term effects of wildfire smoke exposures, but studies of firefighters have shown they face a higher rate of cancer than the general public, despite being otherwise healthier than the average person.
In Oregon, residents were facing air pollution so severe that the air quality index readings were “literally off the charts”, according to Gabriela Goldfarb, a spokesperson for the Oregon health authority, which has been monitoring an increase in people seeking emergency treatment for asthma symptoms. While any air quality index over 300 is considered “hazardous”, numerous communities bordering the wildfires near Salem and the Portland suburbs have experienced readings of over 500, she said.
Goldfarb says the health authority has spent years studying how to combat the health toll of more frequent wildfires, which have been intensified by the climate crisis. Its recommendations have included proposals to distribute air purifiers to low income families and renters. But this year, legislation to do that was put on hold when the Oregon legislature disbanded early due to the pandemic. Now, she said, it is hard to recommend safe alternatives for the public, other than staying home – and people facing evacuation don’t even have that option.
“Traditionally people could go to their public library or a local shopping center to escape the smoke. But those aren’t available this year because of Covid,” she said.
Dr Neeta Thakur, a University of California, San Francisco, pulmonologist who heads both the chest clinic and the clinic for recovering Covid-19 patients at San Francisco general hospital, said the smoke pollution had presented a catch-22 for those concerned about the risks of the coronavirus.
She said one of her lung patients called the hospital complaining of breathing problems and was told to come immediately to the emergency room. But the patient, an older person, waited, fearing exposure to coronavirus. Two days later, the patient’s lung problems became so severe that they had to be brought in by ambulance and intubated in the ICU, she said.
“There was definitely a delay in seeking care because of fear of the pandemic,” said Thakur, noting that the patient was recovering at home.
“We could see more of this,” added Thakur, who has had to cancel recent clinics for people recovering from Covid and asthma patients because of the poor air quality. “Trying to navigate these two health crises and tell people what to do is very difficult.”
She said residents of low income communities bore the brunt of the health risks because of poor-quality housing.
“I can go inside and get clear air,” she said. “But when you live in poor-quality housing, the bad air outside can come inside.”
On Thursday, air quality experts predicted west coast residents would finally get a break as offshore winds blew the clouds of smoke inland, spreading them all the way to the east coast.
Still, “we do not feel we’re in the clear for this fire season yet,” said Goldfarb. She predicted rain storms might bring lightning and the prospect of more fires to Oregon; California air quality officials noted that the state might not see rain until November and smoke pollution could return as early as this weekend.
“If there are people who need to leave the house and get some fresh air, we recommend they do it now,” said Chu, of the Bay Area air quality district. “It’s a new normal that we’re getting used to.”
via Doctors alarmed by surge in hospital visits as toxic smoke engulfs west coast | World news | The Guardian

Posted in Air Quality | Tagged Air Pollution, California, Health Effects of Air Pollution, Oregon, San Francisco, smoke, USA, wildfires | Leave a comment

California wildfire smoke drifts to East Coast, Europe

Posted on September 16, 2020 by Respro® UK Ltd

Smoke from the wildfires ravaging California has drifted across the U.S., reaching parts of the East Coast and Europe, officials said.
“Satellite images this morning show smoke aloft moving over much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic,” the National Weather Service’s Baltimore-Washington office tweeted on Tuesday. “This smoke is obscuring the sun, and will keep temperatures a few degrees cooler today than what would be observed if the smoke was not present.”
Smoke has been reported in New York, Boston and Maine this week by the weather service.
Wildfire smoke has even reached Europe, affecting the skies in the Netherlands and Hamburg, Germany, The Los Angeles Times reported.
“Amazingly, that wildfire smoke has traveled thousands of miles and finally has reached the East,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Matt Benz told USA TODAY. “It looks like clouds, but it is smoke. And we are stuck with this until the weather pattern changes.”
The fires have been burning in California, Washington, Oregon, and other states, killing at least 22 people and burning more than 3.3 million acres in California as of Monday, The Sacramento Bee reported.
Smoke from the fires has been releasing pollutants and spreading ash across cities, creating unhealthy air.
“The intense heat from the wildfires lofted the carbon monoxide high into the atmosphere … the jet stream then blew the carbon monoxide plume eastward across the U.S. and over the Atlantic Ocean,” NASA officials wrote in a statement.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued its record-breaking 28th consecutive Spare the Air alert on Friday for Monday, NBC News reported.
“A thick blanket of smoke from the many wildfires blazing in California and Oregon is causing unhealthy air quality in the Bay Area,” the air district’s Executive Office Jack Broadbent said, according to the publication. “More than ever this weekend, residents should track air quality conditions in their communities and protect their health and avoid smoke exposure by staying indoors.”
Air purifiers have been selling out in San Francisco Bay area stores, NBC News reported. California Gov. Gavin Newsom compared breathing air from wildfires to “smoking 20 packs of cigarettes.”
President Donald Trump visited Sacramento on Monday for a wildfire briefing with Newsom, according to The Sacramento Bee. While state officials connected the fires to the impacts of climate change, Trump focused on forest management when speaking to reporters.
“Well, I think a lot of things are possible. When trees fall down after a short period of time they become very dry — really like a matchstick… and they can explode. Also leaves. When you have dried leaves on the ground it’s just fuel for the fires,” Trump said. “We’re in the midst of a climate emergency,” Newsom said Friday.
“We’re experiencing what so many people predicted decades ago… I’m exhausted that we have to continue to debate this issue.”
California wildfire smoke drifts to East Coast, Europe | The Sacramento Bee

Posted in Air Quality, Europe, USA, USA & Canada, World News | Tagged Air Pollution, California, Oregon, San Francisco, smoke, USA, wildfires | Leave a comment

Wildfire smoke reaches Michigan; North State air hazardous to breathe

Posted on September 15, 2020 by Respro® UK Ltd

The EPA’s AirNow air quality map shows unhealthy (red), to very unhealthy (purple), to hazardous (maroon) pollution levels in the Western United States. Air pollution in Redding dropped from very unhealthy to unhealthy levels around 10:30 a.m. Monday.

Smoke from wildfires in the western United States has spread east, raising pollution levels as far as the Great Lakes region, according to the National Weather Service.
In California’s North State, pollution levels are unhealthy to very unhealthy, and the hazy skies will be around for most of the week. What’s more, an air quality advisory is in effect for the entire state of Oregon through Thursday.
Redding’s levels dropped into the high unhealthy range Monday morning, according to the EPA’s AirNow air quality index (AQI).
Conditions could worsen again if the smoke thickens, according to a Shasta County air quality advisory.
Some areas of the county may see more smoke and pollution than other areas depending on how close they are to wildfires, and depending on current weather conditions, Shasta County Air Quality Management District officials said.
Air pollution levels in Mount Shasta and Yreka also were considered very unhealthy on Monday, a range sustained daily since Friday, according to Air Now.
Right now, “we have really crappy air,” Siskiyou County air pollution control office Jim Smith said. “In places, it has been very hazardous since the Red Salmon Fire started.”
People should avoid areas with active fires throughout the North State, like Happy Camp, Smith said.
California wildfires: Critical fire weather forecast for area of North Complex; fire now 26% contained
Light winds every day this week, and gusty winds predicted Thursday, may move the smoke, according to a forecast from the National Weather Service in Sacramento.
“The bad news for Redding is it will be southerly winds (during the day), pushing smoke from the August Complex north,” NWS meteorologist Cory Mueller said.
At night, winds going south will likely push smoke from fires in Oregon and Northern California over Mount Shasta and into Shasta County, Mueller said.
Strong wind gusts predicted Thursday, together with dry fuels, could spread current fires and enable the start and spread of new ones, according to Monday’s NWS forecast.
Until the smoke clears and air quality improves, people with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, pregnant women and children should reduce their time, and avoid when possible, going outside, the advisory said. Everyone else should limit prolonged exertion. When possible:
Limit exercise and outdoor activities.
Remain indoors with the windows and doors closed.
Turn on an air conditioner with a recirculation setting, such as in a vehicle.
The Shasta County Air Quality Management District operates air quality monitors in Anderson and Redding that read pollution levels in the area.
Siskiyou County has permanent monitors in Yreka and Mount Shasta.
Both counties have numerous portable sensors positioned throughout their areas.
As of Saturday afternoon, wildfire smoke reached as far east as Michigan, according to satellite imagery taken by NWS meteorologists in Maryland and posted on Twitter.
Wildfire smoke reaches Michigan; North State air hazardous to breathe

Posted in USA, USA & Canada | Tagged Air Pollution, California, Michigan, NSW Environment Protection Authority, Oregon, USA, wildfires | Leave a comment

Excessive air pollution registered in 14 Serbian cities in 2019

Posted on September 14, 2020 by Respro® UK Ltd

Last year the air was excessively polluted in 14 cities in Serbia, compared to just ten cities in 2018. Air pollution was recorded in Belgrade, Niš, Novi Sad, Bor, Pančevo, Smederevo, Kosjerić, Užice, Valjevo, Kraljevo, Zaječar, Požarevac, Subotica, and Beočin.
The annual report on the state of air quality in Serbia, prepared by the Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) according to results from the state and local network of measuring stations, revealed breaches of the defined limits and tolerated values, mostly for particulate matter PM2.5 and PM10.
The biggest pollutants are PM10 and PM2.5, which are the most dangerous to human health
They are considered to be the most dangerous air pollutants for human health because they can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream.
In accordance with the Law on Air Protection, starting from the prescribed limit and tolerated values and based on the measurement results, SEPA determines three categories of air quality. If it’s in the first category, it is declared clean. The second is moderately polluted and the third one is excessively polluted air.
The target values for heavy metals – arsenic, cadmium and nickel, were exceeded in Bor
In Novi Sad, Užice, Požarevac and Zaječar, the air was excessively polluted due to the presence of PM10, and in Pančevo and Beočin due to PM2.5. The main polluters are coal-fired power plants, individual furnaces, road traffic and the industry PM2.5 and PM10 particles both caused excessive air pollution in Belgrade, Niš, Smederevo, Kosjerić, Valjevo, Kraljevo and Subotica, the report reads.
The content of heavy metals arsenic, cadmium and nickel inside PM10 particles exceeded the target values in Bor.
The main emitters of air pollutants in 2019 were the production of electricity and heat in thermal power plants and heating plants, heating plants with a capacity under 50 MW, individual furnaces, road traffic and industrial plants, the report reads.
Excessive air pollution registered in 14 Serbian cities in 2019

Posted in Europe | Tagged Air Pollution, Belgrade, PM10, PM2.5, Serbia | Leave a comment

Cutting air pollution in Europe’s cities would improve health of poor, says watchdog

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Respro® UK Ltd

European Environment Agency calls for strong action to protect most vulnerable in society

Cutting air pollution and improving green spaces in cities would immediately improve the health of the poorest people in society, a report from Europe’s environmental watchdog has found.
Environmental factors inflict greater damage on the health of those in poverty, who already suffer a disproportionately greater burden of disease, than on the better-off, according to the European Environment Agency. Measures that reduce air pollution and give people greater access to parks and similar amenities are well within the reach of governments.
“Strong action is needed to protect the most vulnerable in our society, as poverty often goes together with living in poor environmental conditions and poor health,” said Hans Bruyninckx, the executive director of the EEA. “Addressing these connections has to be part of an integrated approach towards a more sustainable and inclusive Europe.”
Poor people are more likely to live in areas with high air pollution, which causes 400,000 premature deaths in Europe each year, and noise pollution, which contributes to 12,000 premature deaths a year and raises stress levels. They are also likely to have less access to green and “blue” spaces – such as riversides, lakes and coastal areas – which an increasing body of work shows are important for good physical and mental health.
The EEA found that countries with less social inequality and cleaner environments also showed improved health, with Norway and Iceland showing the lowest level – 9% – of deaths attributable to environmental factors, while in Albania the proportion was more than one in five, and in Bosnia and Herzegovina more than one in four.
Heatwaves, made more frequent by the climate crisis, are another environmental factor leading to deaths, but other emerging problems are also having an impact. Antibiotics found in sewage can spread antimicrobial resistance, as can the overuse of antibiotics in intensive farming, and infections from multi-drug-resistant bacteria cause 25,000 deaths in the EU each year.
The coronavirus crisis has underscored how people’s health is affected by their access to clean air and green spaces, with research suggesting possible links between air pollution and worse outcomes for those who catch the virus. The EEA said it was examining the potential links.
Stella Kyriakides, the EU commissioner for health and food safety, said: “Covid-19 has been yet another wake-up call, making us acutely aware of the relationship between our ecosystems and our health, and the need to face the facts – the way we live, consume and produce is detrimental to the climate and impacts negatively on our health.”
The toll on people’s health of poor environmental quality has often been ignored, even while governments have recognised the impact of related issues such as obesity, said Catherine Ganzleben, author of the EEA report published on Tuesday. Air pollution leads to the premature death of 400,000 people a year in Europe, but governments have failed to take the measures needed – from regulations on vehicle emissions to better public transport, cycle lanes and pedestrian planning – to improve it.
“We need to move away from the single-issue approach, and from the purely environmental perspective,” Ganzleben told the Guardian. “Much of the burden of disease falls on the most vulnerable, and we need to acknowledge and tackle that by looking at people’s overall wellbeing and the links between environment, health and wealth in an integrated fashion.”
Improving people’s health can also in turn have a beneficial impact on the environment, according to Ganzleben. Obesity is a leading cause of ill-health, and eating less meat and more fruit and vegetables can help people with weight loss. Such a change of diet would also improve the environment, as intensive agriculture for meat production gives rise to ammonia, which contributes to the particulate matter that is the most harmful form of air pollution, as well as producing large quantities of greenhouse gases that intensify the climate crisis.
Cutting air pollution in Europe’s cities would improve health of poor, says watchdog | Environment | The Guardian