http://www.edie.net/gf.cfm?L=left_frame.html&R=http://www.edie.net/new s/Archive/8692.cfm environmental data interactive exchange 06/08/2004
Front Page UK Europe International News Releases Up to 100,000 deaths from air pollution over next 20 years, figures show Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, Norman Baker MP, has warned that up to 100,000 deaths could be caused over the next 20 years as a result of air pollution from increasing levels of ozone. Figures from the national air quality archive have shown that ozone, a major air pollutant, is exceeding dangerous levels and has been increasing year on year since 1997, and that in 2003, average ozone levels were up 32% since 1997. At this rate of increase, the Liberal Democrats warn, ozone pollution could kill an additional 490 people in cities year on year - over 100,000 additional deaths over the next 20 years. Ozone is far more of a problem in the summer as it is produced as a result of sunlight acting directly on pollutants such as oxides of nitrogen, and hydrocarbons. It is a highly reactive chemical which can cause respiratory problems in humans as well as damage to crops and plants. Last year's heatwave led to a dramatic increase in ozone pollution, and caused an estimated 600 deaths, the Liberal Democrats said. "These figures are a stark illustration of the government's failure to take air pollution and climate change seriously. This is not something that will happen in the distant future, it is already having terrible effects on individual health," Mr Baker said. "The spate of unusually hot summers is taking its toll on air quality. If global warming and the rise in vehicle emissions are allowed to continue unchallenged, the situation will only get worse." Unusually for air pollution incidences, ozone pollution is often far worse in rural rather than urban areas. Brian Stacey, a senior air pollution scientist at the National Air Quality Archive told edie that this was due to the way ozone reacts with other chemicals. "Ozone is highly reactive and will react with anything it comes into contact with. In cities it gets produced by sunlight acting on such things as traffic exhausts. However, the ozone produced then reacts with other chemicals in the exhaust emissions and is broken down. In particular ozone can act on nitrogen oxide (NO) producing nitrogen dioxide (NO2). This whole cocktail of complex reactions is often then blown out of the cities and into rural areas, where, as it has far less to react with, it can build up into greater concentrations." Mr Stacey said that background concentration levels of ozone had increased anyway as a result of greater sunlight and emissions from traffic over the past seven years. The levels also build up during the summer as there is less wind or rain to disperse them. In addition, Mr Baker pointed to evidence that suggested air pollution from America was being blown across the Atlantic and settling in Britain (see related story). "Urgent action is needed to reduce the causes of ozone pollution and to safeguard people's health with sustainable transport and energy policies," Mr Baker said. The Met Office also issued a warning in conjunction with the Department of Health this week, that the amount of low-level ozone was likely to be extremely high during this summer heat spell. They warned that people suffering asthma and other lung diseases should be aware that their symptoms might worsen. By David Hopkins ------------ http://www.edie.net/gf.cfm?L=left_frame.html&R=http://www.edie.net/new s/Archive/8692.cfm environmental data interactive exchange 16/07/2004 Front Page UK Europe International News Releases US pollutants could damage European environment A team of scientists are investigating the effects and concentration of pollutants transported from one continent to another by the wind. A team of scientists are monitoring the path of a polluted air mass from the US as it heads for Europe The largest air quality and climate study ever to be launched, the International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation (ICARTT) will track a mass of polluted air as it leaves the United States and travels across the Atlantic to the UK and mainland Europe. Five research aircraft will follow the path of the polluted air mass from the east coast of America, intercepting it at various points to measure the concentration levels of ozone, aerosols and reactive chemicals and quantify any reactions or transformations that may occur. UK organiser Dr Alastair Lewis from the Intercontinental Transport of Ozone and Precursors programme (ITOP) said: "It's highly likely that air leaving the States contains a cocktail of nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons, which are emitted from vehicle exhausts and power stations. We want to know how these will react together on the way to Europe and notably whether they form ozone and particles, both of which can be harmful to humans." Dr Lewis said the investigation will reveal the extent of this 'global pass-the-parcel mechanism' and show whether the elevated ozone levels recorded during the 2003 heatwave were largely caused by pollution from the US: "Some of the pollution was produced locally in the UK, but we still don't know what the contribution was from other countries. This mission will allow us to understand and quantify the effects of trans-continental transport of chemicals, both on regional and global air pollution." The possibility that harmful emissions from the US could be causing serious environmental damage in the UK highlights the urgent need for the US to join the Kyoto Protocol (see related story), according to Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary Norman Baker: "It is time for the Prime Minister to lean on his best buddy, George Bush, to get some positive action from the Americans." Scientists from the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Portugal and the US are involved in ICARTT, which is scheduled to reach completion on 4 August. The project is being led by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). By Jane Kettle ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
