Air-quality-related health impacts from climate change and from adaptation of cooling demand for buildings in the eastern United States: An interdisciplinary modeling study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Climate change negatively impacts human health through heat stress and exposure to worsened air pollution, amongst other pathways. Indoor use of air conditioning can be an effective strategy to reduce heat exposure. However, increased air conditioning use increases emissions of air pollutants from power plants, in turn worsening air quality and human health impacts. We used an interdisciplinary linked model system to quantify the impacts of heat-driven adaptation through building cooling demand on air-quality-related health outcomes in a representative mid-century climate scenario.

Methods and findings

We used a modeling system that included downscaling historical and future climate data with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, simulating building el

SUBMITTER: Abel DW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6029751 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature