Air quality and climate: two sides of the same coin
Sandro Fuzzi
Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate National Research Council, Bologna, Italy
Climate change and air pollution are both critical environmental issues that humanity is facing. On the one hand, air pollution is globally the second leading risk factor for the global burden of diseases, and the premature deaths due to air pollution are estimated globally as 3.5 million. On the other hand, the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has clearly stated that “warming of the climate system is unequivocal and, since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia”. Anthropogenic activities are responsible for the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants that modify atmospheric composition. Such changes are, in turn, responsible for the degradation of air quality at the regional/local scale as well as for climate change. Air pollution and climate change are therefore two intimately connected environmental issues. However, in many areas of both science and policy these two environmental challenges are still viewed as separate issues, which are dealt with by different science communities and within different policy frameworks. Indeed, many mitigation options offer the possibility to both improve air quality and mitigate climate change. There are, however, also mitigation options that may provide benefits to one aspect, while worsening the situation in the other (win-lose policy options). Therefore, many coordinated actions that take the air quality-climate change linkages into account provide the most cost-effective strategies. These coordinated actions need to be based on strong scientific grounds. Furthermore, social acceptability is a key for any environmental policy action and an adequate communication plan to inform citizens needs to be implemented.