Health impacts of atmospheric pollution in a changing climate

Current annual global estimates of premature deaths from poor air quality are estimated in the range 2.6–4.4 million, and 2050 projections are expected to double against 2010 levels. In Europe, annual economic burdens are estimated at around 750 bn €. Climate change will further exacerbate air pollution burdens; therefore, a better understanding of the economic impacts on human societies has become an area of intense investigation. The MACC project series was a European research effort (2005–2015) addressing monitoring of air pollution. The outcome of this work has been integrated into a European capacity for Earth Observation, the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS). In MACC/CAMS, key pollutant concentrations are computed at the European scale and globally by employing chemically-driven advanced transport models. Combining these efforts with an integrated assessment model for calculating the health impacts and damage costs of air pollution offers a novel and highly multidisciplinary approach with information gained at various spatial and temporal resolutions. These calculations are complementary to other, previous and ongoing efforts to assess health impact projections. It benefits the European community by contributing a novel approach to assess air quality at the local and regional levels, explores new pathways for exploiting earth observational data and benefits to long running EU commitments.