In the past 20 years, extreme wildfires have more than doubled, causing destruction to those directly impacted and spreading air pollution across borders and even continents.
In the past 20 years, extreme wildfires have more than doubled, causing destruction to those directly impacted and spreading air pollution across borders and even continents. Outdoor air pollution, and the disease it engenders, is estimated to cause roughly 8 million deaths globally each year. A team of scientists from Cornell and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) are working to understand how air pollutants from dust and wildfires have changed over time, from 1850 to today, to improve predictions of future air pollution. They’ll also calculate respiratory disease, mortality risk and economic impact for a range of air quality scenarios, with a special focus on Latin America.
Their work will draw from, and then inform, the Community Earth System Model, a state-of-the-art climate model used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, among others. Natalie Mahowald, the Irving Porter Church Professor in Engineering in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences in Cornell Engineering, has been developing and using the model and its forebears for 30 years. Mahowald is leading the new research, alongside Adwoa Aboagye-Okyere, a Ph.D. student in Mahowald’s lab, Alistair Hayden, assistant professor of practice in the Department of Public & Ecosystem Health in Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, and Fiona Lo, EDF climate scientist.
Read more at: Cornell University
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