Air pollution currently accounts for the biggest environmental risk to health, impacting societies with little regard to geographic or socio-demographic boundaries. Despite its many negative effects, the good news is that by taking action to reduce air pollutants, communities can simultaneously protect human health and contribute to climate change mitigation goals.
Managing air quality expert insights on air quality management activities. Each activity builds upon the previous one, forming an iterative process that ultimately delivers the desired result. This cycle includes establishing goals (i.e., air quality standards and guidelines) for an area’s air pollution levels, collecting data to assess trends, performing detailed analysis of high concentrations, and identifying the sources responsible.
Mastering Air Quality: Insights from Experts on Effective Management
The new WHO global air quality guidelines have been adjusted downwards, based on the growing evidence that exposure to certain pollutants – including particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide – causes significant adverse health impacts at much lower levels than previously thought. This new guidance will save lives and improve quality of life by improving air quality, and reducing harmful emissions, which also mitigates climate change.
A community’s ability to achieve its air quality targets often depends on the capacity of local stakeholders to make changes in key areas. This can include information sharing and partnering with local governments, regulators and businesses. Using data assessment, emissions inventory and model results, local communities are often able to develop a plan of action to reduce priority contaminants in a given region.
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