Climate change air toxic co-reduction in the context of macroeconomic modelling

Crawford-Brown, D; Chen, PiC; Shi, HC; Chao, C

HERO ID

1905889

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year

2013

Language

English

PMID

23629011

HERO ID 1905889
In Press No
Year 2013
Title Climate change air toxic co-reduction in the context of macroeconomic modelling
Authors Crawford-Brown, D; Chen, PiC; Shi, HC; Chao, C
Journal Journal of Environmental Management
Volume 125
Page Numbers 1-6
Abstract This paper examines the health implications of global PM reduction accompanying greenhouse gas emissions reductions in the 180 national economies of the global macroeconomy. A human health effects module based on empirical data on GHG emissions, PM emissions, background PM concentrations, source apportionment and human health risk coefficients is used to estimate reductions in morbidity and mortality from PM exposures globally as co-reduction of GHG reductions. These results are compared against the "fuzzy bright line" that often underlies regulatory decisions for environmental toxics, and demonstrate that the risk reduction through PM reduction would usually be considered justified in traditional risk-based decisions for environmental toxics. It is shown that this risk reduction can be on the order of more than 4 × 10(-3) excess lifetime mortality risk, with global annual cost savings of slightly more than $10B, when uniform GHG reduction measures across all sectors of the economy form the basis for climate policy ($2.2B if only Annex I nations reduce). Consideration of co-reduction of PM-10 within a climate policy framework harmonized with other environmental policies can therefore be an effective driver of climate policy. An error analysis comparing results of the current model against those of significantly more spatially resolved models at city and national scales indicates errors caused by the low spatial resolution of the global model used here may be on the order of a factor of 2.
Doi 10.1016/j.jenvman.2013.03.034
Pmid 23629011
Wosid WOS:000320416800001
Is Certified Translation No
Dupe Override No
Is Public Yes
Language Text English
Keyword Climate change; Health co-benefits; PM-10; Human health risk; Climate policy