Climate change and air pollution

An-Soo Jang

doi:10.5124/jkma.2011.54.2.175

J Korean Med Assoc > Volume 54(2); 2011 > Article

Jang: Climate change and air pollution

Focused Issue of This Month

Climate Change and Allergy

Journal of the Korean Medical Association

Journal of the Korean Medical Association 2011; 54(2): 175-180.

Published online: February 11, 2011

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2011.54.2.175

Climate change and air pollution

An-Soo Jang, MD

Devision of Allergy and Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Bucheon, Korea.

Corresponding author: An-Soo Jang, jas877@schmc.ac.kr

Received December 16, 2010 Accepted December 30, 2010

This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and the oceans has increased 0.74 ± 0.18℃ over the last century. Climate change can cause sea levels to rise, change the amount and pattern of precipitation, shrink the cover of rain forest and forest, increase the intensity of extreme weather events, and cause species extinctions and changes in agricultural yields. Many human diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, allergies, respiratory diseases, and infectious diseases, are related to climate fluctuation. Climate change can cause the level of air pollutants to increase and affect the interaction of air pollutants and respiratory allergens. Ambient air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, and sulfur dioxide have been linked to allergic diseases and asthma. Here, the effect of climate change and air pollution on health outcomes such as asthma and allergic diseases is reviewed.

Climate change; Air pollution; Health; Asthma

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Table 1

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Modified from American Thoracic Society. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2000;161:666, Table 2. [11].