Publication Abstracts

Bauer et al. 2019

Bauer, S.E., U. Im, K. Mezuman, and C.Y. Gao, 2019: Desert dust, industrialization and agricultural fires: Health impacts of outdoor air pollution in Africa. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 124, no. 7, 4104-4120, doi:10.1029/2018JD029336.

The African continent continuously experiences extreme aerosol load conditions, during which the World Health Organizational clean air standard of 10 µ/gm3 of PM2.5 mass is systematically exceeded. Africa holds the world largest source of desert dust emissions, undergoes strong industrial growth, and produces approximately a third of the Earth's biomass burning aerosol particles. Sub-Saharan biomass burning is driven by agricultural practices, such as burning fields and bushes in the post-harvest season for fertilization, land management and pest control. Thus, these emissions are predominantly anthropogenic. Here we use global atmospheric composition, climate, and health models to simulate the chemical composition of the atmosphere and calculate the mortality rates for Africa by distinguishing between purely natural, industrial/domestic and biomass burning emissions. Air quality related deaths in Africa rank within the top leading causes of death in Africa. Our results of ∼780,000 premature deaths annually point to the extensive health impacts of natural emissions, high mortality rate caused by industrialization in Nigeria and South Africa, and to a smaller extent by fire emissions in Central and West Africa. 43,000 premature deaths in Africa are linked to biomass burning mainly driven by agriculture.Our results also show that natural sources, in particular windblown dust emissions, have large impacts on air quality and human health in Africa.

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BibTeX Citation

@article{ba08500g,
  author={Bauer, S. E. and Im, U. and Mezuman, K. and Gao, C. Y.},
  title={Desert dust, industrialization and agricultural fires: Health impacts of outdoor air pollution in Africa},
  year={2019},
  journal={J. Geophys. Res. Atmos.},
  volume={124},
  number={7},
  pages={4104--4120},
  doi={10.1029/2018JD029336},
}

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RIS Citation

TY  - JOUR
ID  - ba08500g
AU  - Bauer, S. E.
AU  - Im, U.
AU  - Mezuman, K.
AU  - Gao, C. Y.
PY  - 2019
TI  - Desert dust, industrialization and agricultural fires: Health impacts of outdoor air pollution in Africa
JA  - J. Geophys. Res. Atmos.
VL  - 124
IS  - 7
SP  - 4104
EP  - 4120
DO  - 10.1029/2018JD029336
ER  -

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