Recent Advances in Assessing Health Impacts of Air Pollution within Cities Worldwide

Ambient air pollution in cities is of growing concern as urbanization and economic development continue, yet many cities lack information on exposure levels and local health impacts, both of which are needed to make evidence-based mitigation decisions. Remote sensing and Earth system models, widely used for assessing air pollution health impacts on global scales and evaluating long-term trends, could be of particular value for targeted assessment of air pollution exposures and health impacts in cities with high population density but spatially and temporally sparse ground-based monitoring. This presentation discusses recent advances in assessing health impacts of air pollution within cities, both in the U.S. and worldwide. Specifically, it will address the use of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) estimates from satellite remote sensing (0.01 x 0.01 degrees) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) estimates from land use regression modeling (100 x 100m) to assess air pollution-attributable premature mortality and asthma incidence within cities and between cities worldwide, as well as new efforts to develop decision-support tools that rapidly assess air quality and health benefits of mitigation actions undertaken at the urban scale. Challenges, data needs, and potential opportunities in assessing disparities in air pollution exposure and associated health impacts between urban neighborhoods will also be discussed. This work may enable information about air pollution and health impact hotspots and intra-urban inequalities to be used in air quality and public health decision-making.