Cars and climate: what can EPA do to control greenhouse gases from mobile sources

Source: US Congressional Research Service
"This report discusses EPA’s authority under Title II and provides information regarding the mobile sources that might be regulated under this authority. Among these sources, motor vehicles (passenger cars and light trucks, including SUVs) are assumed to be the most likely initial targets for regulation, both because a petition addressing these sources began EPA’s consideration of the endangerment issue, and because these are the most significant GHG emission sources among those covered by Title II."

2002 National-scale air toxics assessment

Source: U.S. EPA
"EPA has released the latest version of a state-of-the-science tool that estimates health risks from breathing air toxics in the United States. The National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA), based on 2002 air emissions data, helps federal, state, local and tribal governments identify areas and specific pollutants for further evaluation to better understand risks they may pose. Air toxics are of concern because they are known to or are suspected of causing cancer and other serious health problems, including birth defects. The report assessed 180 air toxics plus diesel particulate matter from stationary sources of all sizes and from mobile sources such as cars, trucks, buses and construction equipment. The 2002 NATA estimates that most people in the United States have an average cancer risk of 36 in 1 million if exposed to 2002 emissions levels over the course of their lifetime. In addition, 2 million people—less than one percent of the total U.S. population—have an increased cancer risk of greater than 100 in 1 million. Benzene was the largest contributor to the increased cancer risks."

State of the air 2009

Source: American Lung Association
"This year marks the tenth annual American Lung Association State of the Air report and provides an excellent opportunity to look back over the changes in the past ten years. This 2009 report looks at ozone and particle pollution year-round (annual average) and over short-term levels (24-hour) of particle pollution (PM2.5) found in monitoring sites across the United States in 2005, 2006, and 2007."

Quantifying a relationship between place-based learning and environment quality: final report

Source: National Park Service Conservation Study Institute (U.S.)
"A first of its kind study funded by EPA shows that environmental education programs are an effective tool in helping to improve air quality in North America.Nearly half of the surveyed institutions hosting education programs reported an improvement in air quality at their facilities due to actions taken by students, including doing service-learning projects and fostering community partnerships. Examples include decreased levels of carbon monoxide and mold, and enactment of a policy that decreased car or bus idling. An additional 43 percent of the surveyed programs reported some kind of action was taken to improve the environment. "

An assessment of environment regulation of the steel industry in China

Source: Alliance for American Manufacturing
"A new report provides the most in-depth and detailed examination to date of the serious flaws in China’s pollution-control regime and the damage it is doing to human health and global efforts to address climate change. Released on the eve of a Congressional hearing on climate issues, the report focuses on China’s rapidly growing steel industry, and documents China’s ineffective enforcement of weak pollution-control standards, its failure to use adequate pollution-prevention measures, and the resulting high levels of pollution."

California wildfires of 2008:coarse and fine particulate matter toxicity

Source: Environmental Health Perspectives, Online 9 Feb 2009
"Background: During the last week of June in 2008, Central and Northern California experienced thousands of forest and brush fires, giving rise to a week of severe fire- related particulate air pollution throughout the region. California experienced PM10-2.5 (coarse) and PM2.5 (fine) concentrations greatly in excess of the air quality standards and among the highest values reported at these stations since data have been collected. Results: Concentrations of PM were not only higher during the wildfire episodes, but the PM was much more toxic to the lung on an equal weight basis than was PM collected from normal ambient air in the region. Toxicity was manifested as increased neutrophils and protein in lung lavage, and by histological indicators of increased cell influx and edema in the lung."

Fine-particulate air pollution and life-expectancy in the United States

source: New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 360 (4) Jan 2009
"Exposure to fine-particulate air pollution has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality, suggesting that sustained reductions in pollution exposure should result in improved life expectancy. This study directly evaluated the changes in life expectancy associated with differential changes in fine particulate air pollution that occurred in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s. A reduction in exposure to ambient fine-particulate air pollution contributed to significant and measurable improvements in life expectancy in the United States."

NOx budget trading program: compliance and environmental results

Source: US EPA
"More than 102 million Americans are breathing cleaner air due to decreases in smog-forming emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) according to the NOx Budget Trading Program annual report. The 2007 summertime NOx emissions from power plants and industrial sources were down by 60 percent compared to 2000 levels and 74 percent below 1990 levels in 20 eastern states and the District of Columbia. The program helped improve air quality in 95 percent of nonattainment areas in the east, with 64 percent of these areas now below the ozone standard."

Trends in emissions of ozone-depleting substances, ozone layer recovery, and implications for ultraviolet radiation exposure

Source: U.S. Climate Change Science Program
"new NOAA-led assessment of the global ozone layer says the U.S. has reduced by 97-98 percent the production of ozone damaging substances since the late 1980s. The assessment is one in a series of synthesis and assessment reports coordinated by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. The report also offers a glimpse into expectations for recovery of the ozone layer in a changing climate, as well as the first detailed look at U.S. role in emitting — and reducing the emissions of — the chemicals that deplete the ozone layer. The ozone layer, which surrounds the globe about 10-15 miles above the surface, protects living things from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays."

Atmospheric brown clouds: regional assessment report with focus on Asia: summary

Source: UNEP
"Cities from Beijing to New Delhi are getting darker, glaciers in ranges like the Himalayas are melting faster and weather systems becoming more extreme, in part, due to the combined effects of man-made Atmospheric Brown Clouds (ABCs) and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These are among the conclusions of scientists studying a more than three km-thick layer of soot and other manmade particles that stretches from the Arabian Peninsula to China and the western Pacific Ocean. Today the team, drawn from research centres in Asia including China and India, Europe and the United States, announced their latest and most detailed assessment of the phenomenon. The brown clouds, the result of burning of fossil fuels and biomass, are in some cases and regions aggravating the impacts of greenhouse gas-induced climate change, says the report. This is because ABCs lead to the formation of particles like black carbon and soot that absorb sunlight and heat the air; and gases such as ozone which enhance the greenhouse effect of CO2. Globally however brown clouds may be countering or ‘masking’ the warming impacts of climate change by between 20 and up to 80 per cent the researchers suggest."

A new car plan for a greener future

Source: Dept. of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research
"The 13-year New Car Plan for a Greener Future is about manufacturing competitive, low-emission, fuel-efficient vehicles in Australia. It will create well-paid, highly-skilled green jobs for the future. The plan is expected to generate $16 billion in investment in the Australian automotive industry over the life of the plan."

Air quality in and around traffic tunnels

source: NHMRC
"This Report evaluates the factors associated with poor air quality in and around traffic tunnels and the subsequent health effects resulting from exposure to air pollution."

Ground-level ozone in the 21st century: future trends, impacts and policy implications

Source: Royal Society
"The report provides a review of why control efforts in many parts of the world have failed to reduce ozone and its impacts, and, using state of the art scenario and modelling analysis, evaluates how important ozone is likely to be for human health, climate and the environment by the end of the 21st century."

Something in the air: connections between global warming, ozone depletion, POPs and particulates

Source: CSIRO
"The release of chemical substances to the environmentwas long seen simply as away
to get rid of them from the immediate vicinity of their generation. Until recently there was little consideration that regional or global problems might result. Further, the various releases were studied by specialists who lacked the breadth of knowledge to understand that many of their specialties were linked and that chemical identity, toxicity, bio-accumulation, regional and global weather patterns and some arcane physical chemistry would need to be involved in a comprehensive analysis of the impact of chemicals on the environment."

Inside story: guide to indoor air quality

Source: U.S. EPA
"While pollutant levels from individual sources may not pose a significant health risk by themselves, most homes have more than one source that contributes to indoor air pollution. There can be a serious risk from the cumulative effects of these sources. Fortunately, there are steps that most people can take both to reduce the risk from existing sources and to prevent new problems from occurring. This booklet was prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to help consumers decide whether to take actions that can reduce the level of indoor air pollution in their homes."

Estimating mortality risk reduction and economic benefits from controlling ozone air pollution

source: National Academies Press
"In light of recent evidence on the relationship of ozone to mortality and questions about its implications for benefit analysis, the Environmental Protection Agency asked the National Research Council to establish a committee of experts to evaluate independently the contributions of recent epidemiologic studies to understanding the size of the ozone-mortality effect in the context of benefit analysis. The committee was also asked to assess methods for estimating how much a reduction in short-term exposure to ozone would reduce premature deaths, to assess methods for estimating associated increases in life expectancy, and to assess methods for estimating the monetary value of the reduced risk of premature death and increased life expectancy in the context of health-benefits analysis."

Threats from above: air pollution impacts on ecosystems and biological diversity in the eastern United States

source: Nature Conservancy
"No ecosystem type in the eastern United States is free of the effects of air pollution, according to a report released today by The Nature Conservancy and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. From streams and rivers to forests and wetlands, air pollution reduces the benefits these ecosystems provide to society, and damages human health and economies. Sulfur, nitrogen, mercury and ground-level ozone not only contaminate the air we breathe, they also enter the soil and water, causing a complex set of problems."

Integrated science assessment for oxides of nitrogen: health criteria

Source: U.S. EPA
"This is EPA’s latest evaluation of the scientific literature on the potential adverse human health effects resulting from exposures to oxides of nitrogen, particularly nitrogen dioxide or NO2. There are significant new health data, particularly epidemiological studies, since the last scientific review document released in 1993."

National Pollutant Inventory summary report 2005-2006

The eighth summary report of the National Pollutant Inventory presents an overview of activities during 2005-06.

Energy futures and urban air pollution: challenges for China and the United States

China and the United States are the number one and two energy consumers in the world. This report is geared towards policy makers involved in urban energy and air quality issues and identifies lessons learned from case studies of four major cities in the U.S. and China.