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Chapter 7: Impact of Nitrogen and Climate Change Interactions on Ambient Air Pollution and Human Health
Citation:
Haeuber, R., V. Garcia, L. Neas, J. Peel, AND A. Russell. Chapter 7: Impact of Nitrogen and Climate Change Interactions on Ambient Air Pollution and Human Health. Chapter 7, The Role of Nitrogen in Climate Change and the Impacts of Nitrogen-Climate Interactions on Terrestrial and Acquatic Ecosystems, Agriculture and Human Health in the United States. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, , 190-204, (2012).
Impact/Purpose:
A technical report from a July workshop in Fort Collins, CO directly to the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) office. This is not a publication. The USGCRP will be publishing a final National Climate Assessment report in 2013, and they may choose(or not) to use information that we provide them in our technical report. We hope to find a peer-reviewed journal that will consider publishing each of our six chapters.
Description:
Nitrogen oxides (NOX) are important components of ambient and indoor air pollution and are emitted from a range of combustion sources, including on-road mobile sources, electric power generators, and non-road mobile sources. While anthropogenic sources dominate, NOX is also formed by lightning and wild-land fires and is also emitted by soil. Reduced nitrogen (e.g., ammonia, NH3) is also emitted by various sources, including fertilizer application and animal waste decomposition. Nitrogen oxides, ozone (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution related to atmospheric emissions of nitrogen (N) and other pollutants can cause premature death and a variety of serious health effects. Climate change is expected to impact how N-related pollutants affect human health. For example, changes in temperature and precipitation patterns are projected to both lengthen the O3 season and intensify high O3 episodes in some areas. Other climate-related changes may increase the atmospheric release of N compounds through impacts on wildfire regimes, soil emissions, and biogenic emissions from terrestrial ecosystems. This chapter examines the potential human health implications of climate change and N cycle interactions related to ambient air pollution.