Search

Rationale: Avoiding excess health damages attributable to climate change is a primary motivator for policy interventions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the health benefits of climate mitigation, as included in the policy assessment process, have been estimated without much input from health experts. Objectives: In accordance with recommendations from the National Academies in a 2017 report on approaches to update the social cost of greenhouse gases (SC-GHG), an expert panel of 26 health researchers and climate economists gathered for a virtual technical workshop in May 2021 to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis and recommend improvements to the estimation of health impacts in economic-climate models. Methods: Regionally resolved effect estimates of unit increases in temperature on net all-cause mortality risk were generated through random-effects pooling of studies identified through a systematic review. Results: Effect estimates and associated uncertainties varied by global region, but net increases in mortality risk associated with increased average annual temperatures (ranging from 0.1% to 1.1% per 1°C) were estimated for all global regions. Key recommendations for the development and utilization of health damage modules were provided by the expert panel and included the following: not relying on individual methodologies in estimating health damages; incorporating a broader range of cause-specific mortality impacts; improving the climate parameters available in economic models; accounting for socioeconomic trajectories and adaptation factors when estimating health damages; and carefully considering how air pollution impacts should be incorporated in economic-climate models. Conclusions: This work provides an example of how subject-matter experts can work alongside climate economists in making continued improvements to SC-GHG estimates.

Background: Previous studies of short-term ambient air pollution exposure and asthma morbidity in the United States have been limited to a small number of cities and/or pollutants and with limited consideration of effects across ages. Objectives: To estimate acute age group-specific effects of fine and coarse particulate matter (PM), major PM components, and gaseous pollutants on emergency department (ED) visits for asthma during 2005-2014 across the United States. Methods: We acquired ED visit and air quality data in regions surrounding 53 speciation sites in 10 states. We used quasi-Poisson log-linear time-series models with unconstrained distributed exposure lags to estimate site-specific acute effects of air pollution on asthma ED visits overall and by age group (1-4, 5-17, 18-49, 50-64, and 65+ y), controlling for meteorology, time trends, and influenza activity. We then used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate pooled associations from site-specific associations. Results: Our analysis included 3.19 million asthma ED visits. We observed positive associations for multiday cumulative exposure to all air pollutants examined [e.g., 8-d exposure to P[M.sub.2.5]: rate ratio of 1.016 with 95% credible interval (CI) of (1.008, 1.025) per 6.3-[micro]g/[m.sup.3] increase, P[M.sub.10-25]: 1.014 (95% CI: 1.007, 1.020) per 9.6-[micro]g/[m.sup.3] increase, organic carbon: 1.016 (95% CI: 1.009, 1.024) per 2.8-[micro]g/[m.sup.3] increase, and ozone: 1.008 (95% CI: 0.995, 1.022) per 0.02-ppm increase]. P[M.sub.2.5] and ozone showed stronger effects at shorter lags, whereas associations of traffic-related pollutants (e.g., elemental carbon and oxides of nitrogen) were generally stronger at longer lags. Most pollutants had more pronounced effects on children (64 y old); and ozone had stronger effects on adults than children. Conclusions: We reported positive associations between short-term air pollution exposure and increased rates of asthma ED visits. We found that air pollution exposure posed a higher risk for children and older populations. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP11661, Introduction Ambient air pollution poses great risks to human health. Exposure to ambient air pollution contributes 4 million deaths with 140 million disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) each year. (1,2) Despite a [...]

BACKGROUND: Previous studies of short-term ambient air pollution exposure and asthma morbidity in the United States have been limited to a small number of cities and/or pollutants and with limited consideration of effects across ages. OBJECTIVES: To estimate acute age group-specific effects of fine and coarse particulate matter (PM), major PM components, and gaseous pollutants on emergency department (ED) visits for asthma during 2005–2014 across the United States. METHODS: We acquired ED visit and air quality data in regions surrounding 53 speciation sites in 10 states. We used quasi-Poisson log-linear time-series models with unconstrained distributed exposure lags to estimate site-specific acute effects of air pollution on asthma ED visits overall and by age group (1–4, 5–17, 18–49, 50–64, and 65+ y), controlling for meteorology, time trends, and influenza activity. We then used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate pooled associations from site-specific associations. RESULTS: Our analysis included 3.19 million asthma ED visits. We observed positive associations for multiday cumulative exposure to all air pollutants examined [e.g., 8-d exposure to PM2.5: rate ratio of 1.016 with 95% credible interval (CI) of (1.008, 1.025) per 6.3-μg/m³ increase, PM10-2.5: 1.014 (95% CI: 1.007, 1.020) per 9.6-μg/m³ increase, organic carbon: 1.016 (95% CI: 1.009, 1.024) per 2.8-μg/m³ increase, and ozone: 1.008 (95% CI: 0.995, 1.022) per 0.02-ppm increase]. PM2.5 and ozone showed stronger effects at shorter lags, whereas associations of traffic-related pollutants (e.g., elemental carbon and oxides of nitrogen) were generally stronger at longer lags. Most pollutants had more pronounced effects on children (<18 y old) than adults; PM2.5 had strong effects on both children and the elderly (>64 y old); and ozone had stronger effects on adults than children. CONCLUSIONS: We reported positive associations between short-term air pollution exposure and increased rates of asthma ED visits. We found that air pollution exposure posed a higher risk for children and older populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]