Ambient air quality
Ambient air quality – critical for our health and the environment.
For several decades, the emission of aerosols and their precursor gases has continuously increased due to growing populations, industrialisation and human activities. It has been known for some time that elevated concentrations of certain species in atmospheric aerosols have a negative effect on human mortality/morbidity rates. In addition to human health concerns, aerosols also affect atmospheric processes, having an impact on air quality, visibility, cloud formation and rainfall.
Aerosols can influence the climate directly by absorbing and scattering light, thus changing the Earth’s reflectivity or they can affect the climate indirectly via cloud formation and changing the property of clouds.
The chemical composition and size distributions of aerosols are highly variable and dependent on different factors such as the location, time, meteorological conditions, contribution of specific sources and altitude. Long term studies of the variation in concentration and composition of key components help in the understanding of the dynamics of air pollution and lead to ways of improving air quality to the benefit of our health and the environment.
