What is the role of air pollution modeling in policy making?
The air pollution is a growing problem in a number of cities around the world. Over the years, starting from the days of the infamous London smog and Los Angeles smog episodes, the cities around the world have established programs to better understand the air pollution sources and facilitated ways to control the pollution. The growing industrialization, transportation, and demand for energy in all forms, is multiplying the air pollution related health impacts and environmental damages, not only in the big cities, but also in the growing number of secondary cities. This paper discusses four questions: Why use models for policy analysis?; How does the world see the progress in air quality parameters?; How to utilize the air quality forecast models for policy support?; and what are the common misconceptions in policy making via modeling? and presents links to "Air Quality Index" for cities across the world and schematics of forecast models.