Carbon dioxide rise linked to pollution deaths
Increased carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere also could worsen air pollution worldwide and lead to the deaths of up to 22,000 people a year, a new study shows. Rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels from burning fossil fuels have been linked to sea-level changes, snowmelt, disease, heat stress, severe weather, and ocean acidification, but this is the first study to link CO2 rise to pollution. Because carbon dioxide doesn't directly affect respiration, it hasn't been classified as an air pollutant. But the study, led by Mark Jacobson of Stanford University, predicts that as temperatures and water vapor rise because of extra atmospheric CO2, ozone pollution levels also will rise. Using a high-resolution model that correlates pollution levels to human health, Jacobson found that each 1.8-degree rise in temperature could increase yearly air pollution deaths in the USA by about 1,000, which he extrapolated to 22,000 worldwide. Jacobson notes that many of these deaths would likely occur in smoggy urban areas.