The human health impacts of anthropogenic climate change continue to intensify. Perhaps most concerning is the rapid rise in ambient temperature, with 10 of the hottest years ever recorded having occurred over the last 15 years (IPCC, 2018; NASA, 2019). A robust literature has accumulated characterizing an extensive list of adverse health effects of heat exposure, identifying a number of groups particularly vulnerable (Ebi et al., 2018). The most recent group identified as highly vulnerable to heat exposure is expectant mothers (Bekkar et al., 2020; Chersich et al., 2020). A consistent relationship has been observed between increased ambient temperature and adverse pregnancy events, including increase in preterm delivery (PTD), small for gestational age, and stillbirth (Bekkar et al., 2020; Chersich et al., 2020) . Utilizing birth records and fetal death records from 2000-2004, we carried out two case-crossover studies assessing the impact of ambient temperature on preterm delivery and stillbirth across the contiguous United States, where 1 in 10 births results in a preterm delivery and 1 in 160 births results in a stillborn fetus. Our aim was to assess how increased temperature, singularly and in combination with air pollution exposure, impacts the odds of experiencing a preterm delivery or stillbirth (Aims 1 and 2). Our third aim, performed with a case-control study, expanded on the exploration of air pollution exposure, examining how traffic related air pollution (measured by maternal residential proximity to major roadways) impacts placental-associated stillbirth (Aim 3). We identified significantly increased odds of preterm delivery and stillbirth associated with a 10-degree Fahrenheit increase in average apparent temperature in the week preceding delivery for babies delivered in the warm season (May – October) and the meteorological summer (June – August). These increases were strongest in the Southern half of the United States and modified by maternal race/ethnicity for both preterm delivery and stillbirth. The increased odds were independent of air pollution exposure (ozone and PM2.5), which had no impact on the odds of preterm delivery or stillbirth. Furthermore, we did not observe a meaningful increase in overall odds of placental-associated stillbirth with increased proximity of the maternal residence to major roads. These studies contribute to the growing literature on the vulnerability of pregnant women to heat exposure and enhance the understanding of environmental risk factors of preterm birth and stillbirth, a chronically understudied health outcome. / 2023-05-14T00:00:00Z

High PM2.5-related mortality and morbidity has become a public health concern in China. To date, there have been few studies investigating individual implementation and use of protective behaviors to counter outdoor PM2.5 air pollution levels in China. This study, therefore, aimed to investigate adults’ attitudes toward evidence-based protective behaviors against outdoor PM2.5 air pollution, the results of which might inform health educators and health promotion specialists about what they should emphasize when educating communities about protective behaviors in the PM2.5 air pollution days. Utilizing the purposing sampling method, a WeChat-based survey was conducted among 300 adult participants living in B residential area in Yuhuatai district of Nanjing, which is a representative city of high urbanization level and PM2.5 air pollution in China. The survey included total 16 items assessing participants’ background information, attitudes toward four evidence-based protective behaviors against PM2.5 air pollution, and knowledge regarding possibly effective protective approaches specifically related to Chinese medicine in the PM2.5 air pollution. The results showed that the importance adults in Nanjing attached to wearing N95 respirator when walking outside, putting air filter (HEPA) at home, and avoiding unprotected outdoor sports activities in the PM2.5 air pollution was greater than closing all the doors, windows, and many openings in the PM2.5 air pollution. Regarding comparison of attitudes between pre- and post-controlled COVID-19 periods, the value adults gave to closing all the doors, windows, and many openings in the PM2.5 air pollution was higher during pre-COVID-19 period, whereas the opposite of circumstance took place when referring to other three protective behaviors. Regarding comparison of attitudes between biographic variables, adults aged 18-50 (including 50) attached greater importance to all the four protective behaviors than those aged 50+. In addition, adults having the habit of checking daily AQI ranked the behaviors of avoiding outdoor sports activities and wearing N95 respirator when walking outside in the PM2.5 air pollution in a higher position than those not. Implications for future research and practice are discussed, based on a critique of the present work.

As multiple regions in the global south urbanize and transform, their social-environmental challenges also reshape. Climate change and ecological degradation intertwine with these processes in ways that have an uneven impact on people and firms with various degrees of vulnerability. In this dissertation, I look at such issues through the lens of sustainable development, with a regional emphasis on Mexico. Standard economic analyses of environmental policy focus on either reducing pollution externalities through mitigation or reducing the harms from exposure by encouraging adaptation. In practice, these issues are both critical, particularly when looking at the health effects of local air pollutants, which can be acute, and policymakers often pair information provision with short and long-run mitigation actions. In Chapter 1, I explore whether, in the context of the Mexico City air quality alert program, information policy is more effective when paired with mitigation. I find that the policy did not improve air quality or health outcomes until the mitigation component, which limited transport emissions, was introduced. I also use sensor-level traffic data, geo-tagged accident reports, and search data as a measure of awareness of the policy to unveil the mechanisms through which considerable short-run improvements in air quality and health are achieved after issuing an alert. I find that the alert reduces car usage even before the driving restrictions enter into place, suggesting that, due to an increased awareness of pollution, people reduce their trips. Chapter 2 studies the effects of regional exposure to extreme temperatures on credit delinquency rates for firms in Mexico. Our exposure variable is defined as the number of days in a quarter that minimum and maximum temperature are below 3°C and above 36°C, respectively, which correspond to the bottom 5 percent and top 5 percent of daily minimum and maximum temperature distribution in the country. We find that extreme temperatures increase delinquency. This effect is mostly driven by extreme heat, and it is concentrated on agricultural firms, but there is also an effect on non-agriculture firms. The impact on non-agricultural firms seems to be driven by general equilibrium effects in rural areas. Chapter 3, provides the first estimation of child penalties in the Mexican labor market. Using an event study approach and an instrumental variable as a robustness check, we estimate the impact of children on employment and wages, unpaid labor, and transitions between informal and formal sectors. We are the first to show that a child’s arrival significantly affects mothers’ paid and unpaid work, and it impacts members of the extended family unevenly, reinforcing traditional gender roles. While low- and middle-income women account for most of the effect of childbirth on wages, all mothers increase time spent on unpaid work.

At the end of the sixteenth century, London was grappling with an unprecedented environmental crisis: rapid population growth produced rampant pollution, land mismanagement, and epidemic disease; entire species of fish disappeared from the Thames; and the city’s growing demands for food and fuel depleted the nation’s natural resources. This dissertation locates innovative responses to these new environmental pressures on the early modern stage. Shakespeare and his contemporaries, I argue, shaped early attitudes and expectations about the ecology of London and its sustainability. Each chapter of “Urban Ecology” focuses on a different resource problem plaguing early modern London—food scarcity, decayed waterways, air pollution and a shortage of space to bury the dead—and shows how groups of plays addressed them using the material and imaginative resources of dramatic form. In constructing stories in which these ecological issues figure prominently, and in offering their own creative responses to these problems, early modern playwrights display a nuanced understanding of London’s environment as a co-fabrication between human and nonhuman forces, even before the terms “ecosystem” or “ecology” had emerged in scientific discourse. To make this co-fabrication visible, “Urban Ecology” reads early modern plays alongside a rich archive of archaeological evidence that re-situates the theater industry as a both a product of and active participant in the London ecosystem. I show how playing companies contributed to urban air pollution by burning noxious sea coal to produce spectacular effects that attracted paying customers; the Bankside playhouses, located on reclaimed marshland, were vulnerable to the Thames and its patterns of tidal flooding; and food sourced from both local and global supply chains was regularly sold during performances. By reconstructing this complex interplay between drama and its environment, this dissertation begins to center the early modern theater industry in the history of ecological thought.

Deteriorating air quality has attracted the interest of policymakers in most parts of the world. Poor air quality is behind many severe health problems on both a global and a local scale. While decarbonization is the primary driver behind the push for broader adoption of electric cars, we hypothesize the presence of significant co-benefits from adopting electric cars, such that electrifying the mode of transportation might reduce air pollution. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated panel data for the stock of electric cars and emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX) from Swedish municipalities between 2010-2019 using OLS models with fixed effects. The analysis suggests a significant negative correlation between the stock of electric cars and emissions of NOX. The presence of co-benefits suggests a stronger case for subsidizing the adoption of electric cars, beyond the level climate considerations warrant.

Human life takes place as part of a global ecosystem, meaning that human mental health is at least partially tied to the health of the planet. Health experts who seek to promote psychological well-being should consider how changes to the broad ecological system may impact their efforts. Given the potential impact of the environment on human well-being, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess the impact of air pollution on subjective well-being. The goal of this project was to outline the current state of the research on these constructs and provide a clear framework for what research is still needed. Nonsignificant relationships were found for six out of seven of the measured pollutants. Overall, these results appear to indicate a nonsignificant negative relationship between our constructs; however, our model had significant heterogeneity which may impact the validity of these findings. Attempts to reduce statistical heterogeneity demonstrated the importance of complex measurement and study design when studying the impact of ecological environments on well-being.

Thesis: M.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1977 / Includes bibliographical references. / by Michael K. Martin. / M.S. / M.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management

<p>Predmet istraživanja ove disertacije je monitoring i analiza ultraljubičastog zračenja, toplotnih indeksa i zagađujućih materija u vazduhu većih naselja na teritoriji Vojvodine. Cilj istraživanja je da se prostornom i vremenskom analizom posmatranih parametara dođe do &scaron;to optimalnijih saznanja o stanju kvaliteta životne sredine na području Vojvodine kao i stvaranje jedinstvene baze podataka koja će služiti za buduća istraživanja. U radu je ispitan odnos između sunčevog globalnog i UV zračenja, izvedena i verifikovana empirijska jednačina za procenu dnevnih suma UV-B zračenja u osam naselja za period 1981-2008, analizirane koncentracije pet zagađujućih materija u sedam naselja za period 2001-2008. godina i analizirani toplotni indeksi u sedam naselja u periodu od 1992. do 2008. Analiza pokazuje da rekonstruisane vrednosti dnevnih suma UV-B zračenja i srednji godi&scaron;nji toplotni indeksi u svim naseljima pokazuju tendenciju rasta i da dominantan uticaj na kvalitet vazduha u naseljima Vojvodine imaju čestice. Napravljena je jedinstvena baze podataka sa vrednostima koncentracija zagađivača vazduha, toplotnih indeksa, UV i globalnog zračenja.</p> / <p>This study analyzes UV radiation, heat indexes and air pollution in town in Vojvodina region. Objective of the thesis is to provide scientific facts about environmental quality in Vojvodina, as well as, to generate unique data base for the future research. The relationship between UV-B and global radiation has been studied and correlation equation for estimating UV-B from global radiation has been deduced. Equation was used for UV-B radiation calculation in eight towns in Vojvodina region during the period 1981-2008. This study also analyzes concentrations of five air pollutant in during the period 2001-2008, and heat index during the period 1992-2008. in seven towns in Vojvodina. The results from this study show growth UV-B radiation and heat index in all towns, and denote particulate maters as main air pollutants in Vojvodina towns.</p>

Air pollution is one of the leading environmental problems of the 21st century, and the rise of global urbanization has increasingly exacerbated air pollution’s public health impact. Existing epidemiologic studies have tackled the relationship between air pollution and health from a variety of perspectives, but many areas of research remain lacking, including studies originating from developing countries, the assessment of exposure windows and sensitivity of modeling choices, and a better understanding of the climate change impacts on air pollution and health. In this dissertation, I address all of the issues mentioned above. Chapter 1 formally introduces the topics of this dissertation and summarizes background information on several major air pollutants. It then provides an overview of existing research on air pollution epidemiology and describes key knowledge gaps. In Chapter 2, we conduct a systematic review of the scientific literature for data on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in China, where historical PM2.5 data are not widely available prior to 2013. Using the 574 PM2.5 measurements we identified from the literature, we detected differences in PM2.5 levels across both geographic and economic regions of China. In Chapter 3, we investigate the associations between short- and intermediate-term exposure of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and mortality in 42 counties in China from 2013 to 2015, and find evidence of significant associations up to seven days prior to exposure. In Chapter 4, we investigate the association between PM2.5 and hospitalizations in New York State using five separate exposure datasets from 2002 to 2012. We find that despite some fluctuations in effect estimates, the majority of models yielded consistently significantly harmful associations. In Chapter 5, we utilize a global chemistry-climate model to project ozone levels in 2050 under a variety of emissions scenarios and quantify the mortality impact associated with changes in ozone concentrations between 2015 and 2050 according to each scenario. We find that under climate change alone and adherence to current legislation, ozone-related deaths would increase. However, under a best-case scenario of maximum technologically feasible reductions in emissions, over 300,000 premature deaths related to ozone can be avoided. Finally, Chapter 6 summarizes the findings of this dissertation and discusses potential directions in future research. While much work remains to be done, this dissertation work takes an important step forward in closing existing knowledge gaps in the field of air pollution epidemiology. More importantly, we hope that our work sends a strong public health message on the importance of continuing research on air pollution and health.

La formation des aérosols organiques dans l'atmosphère est étudiée via le développement d'un nouveau modèle de formation d'aérosols organiques secondaires nommé H²O (Hydrohilic/Hydrophobic Organics). Dans un premier temps, une paramétrisation de la formation d'aérosols via l'oxydation de l'isoprène est développée. Cette paramétrisation prend notamment en compte l'influence des concentrations d'oxydes d'azote sur la formation d'aérosols et leurs propriétés hydrophiles. Ensuite, H²O incluant cette paramétrisation et d'autres développements est évalué par comparaison aux mesures de carbone organique sur l'Europe. Prendre en compte les émissions de composés semi-volatils primaires gazeux (qui peuvent former des aérosols organiques secondaires après oxydation ou se condenser lors de baisses de température) améliore les performances du modèle de manière significative. En revanche, si les émissions de ces composés ne sont pas prises en compte, il en résulte une très forte sous-estimation des concentrations d'aérosols organiques en hiver. La formation d'aérosols organiques secondaires sur l'Île-de-France durant la campagne d'été de Megapoli (juillet 2009) a aussi été simulée pour évaluer les performances du modèle en zone urbaine. H²O donne de bons résultats sur l'Île-de-France bien que le modèle prévoit un pic d'aérosols organiques, provenant des émissions du trafic durant les heures de pointe, qui n'apparaît pas dans les mesures. La présence de ce pic dans les résultats du modèle peut être due à la sous-estimation de la volatilité des composés semi-volatils primaires. Il est aussi possible que les composés organiques primaires et les composés organiques secondaires ne se mélangent pas et que les composés semi-volatils primaires ne peuvent pas se condenser sur un aérosol organique majoritairement secondaire et très oxydé. Enfin, l'impact de la chimie aqueuse est étudié. Le mécanisme utilisé inclue notamment, la formation d'aérosols organiques secondaires dans la phase aqueuse des nuages par oxydation du glyoxal, du méthylglyoxal, de la méthacroleine et de la méthyl-vinyl-cétone, la formation de méthyltétrols dans la phase aqueuse des particules ou des gouttes d'eau des nuages et le vieillissement des aérosols organiques dans un nuage. L'impact des dépôts humides sur la formation d'aérosols est aussi étudié pour mieux caractériser l'impact des nuages sur les concentrations d'aérosols organiques / Rganic aerosol formation in the atmosphere is investigated via the developpement of a new model named H²O (Hydrohilic/Hydrophobic Organics). First, a parameterization is developped to take into account secondary organic aerosol formation from isoprene oxidation. It takes into account the effect of nitrogen oxides on organic aerosol formation and the hydrophilic properties of the aerosols. This parameterization is then implemented in H²O along with some other developments and the results of the model are compaired to organic carbon measurements over Europe. Model performance is greatly improved by taking into account emissions of primary semi-volatile compounds, which can form secondary organic aerosols after oxidation or can condense when temperature decreases. If those emissions are not taken into account, a significant underestimation of organic aerosol concentrations occurs in winter. The formation of organic aerosols over an urban area was also studied by simulating organic aerosols concentration over the Paris area during the summer campaign of Megapoli (July 2009). H²O gives satisfactory results over the Paris area, although a peak of organic aerosol concentrations from traffic, which does not appear in the measurements, appears in the model simulation during rush hours. It could be due to an underestimation of the volatility of organic aerosols. It is also possible that primary and secondary organic compounds do not mix well together and that primary semi volatile compounds do not condense on an organic aerosol that is mostly secondary and highly oxidized. Finally, the impact of aqueous-phase chemistry was studied. The mechanism for the formation of secondary organic aerosol includes in-cloud oxydation of glyoxal, methylglyoxal, methacrolein and methylvinylketone, formation of methyltetrols in the aqueous phase of particles and cloud droplets, and the in-cloud aging of organic aerosols. The impact of wet deposition is also studied to better estimate the impact of clouds on organic aerosol concentrations