Regional and Long Term Variations of Air Pollutants on Air Quality over the Mississippi Gulf of Mexico Region, and Related Health Impacts

Industries and transportation are some of the important sources of pollutants to the atmosphere, and the most important are particulate matter (2.5 micron: PM2.5), sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and ozone. These emissions can contribute to the environmental issues like climate variability due to elevated levels of greenhouse gases, or acidic rainfall. Climate change affects living beings – people, plants, and animals. In human beings, health related diseases like asthma are of much concern in addition to climate sensitive diseases such as malaria and smog. It is important to investigate and understand the interplay between industrial pollutants, climate change and health. In the present study, we present a detailed study of the long term variations of PM2.5 for over 10 years (2001 – 2010) in selected regions of Mississippi – Northern, Central, and Southern. For each of these regions, a few locations will be selected to study the seasonal variations of PM2.5 to account for the observed scenarios or episodes. The three regions are selected because of their air quality and associated characteristic weather patterns. The Northern region of Mississippi exhibits Northerly winds and high pressures systems, while Southern region shows Southerly winds with low pressure systems. The PM2.5 seasonal variations are expected to manifest the influence of the weather patterns. The observed air pollutant scenarios in Mississippi will be accounted in relation to the air pollutant sources – Industrial and Transportation, and air dispersion. Physical mechanisms will be drawn to interpret the observed air quality episodes of PM2.5 in the seasonal trends, and the associated health effects. The results will help to understand the role of pollutants on environmental issues and health effects. Key words: Criteria Air Pollutants, Wind Speed, Wind Directions, Statistical Modeling, Environmental modeling, Health Impacts