Dr Perry Sheffield, Assistant Professor of Preventative Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and her team of researchers have found that changes in the level of ozone could increase asthma rates by over 7% in children between the ages of 0 and 17 years. The adverse respiratory effects of ozone are well known, and ozone is the air pollutant most consistently projected to increase under future climate change.

The team used regional and atmospheric chemistry models and linked regional climate and air quality information to New York State Department of Health records of paediatric, asthma-related emergency room visits over New York City’s metropolitan area. They simulated ozone levels for the months of June – August for five consecutive years in the 2020s and compared them with 1990 levels.

The study shows the effectiveness of the model for evaluating the long-term impact of global climate change on a local level, and is starting point for evaluating the overall burden of climate change on children with asthma.

Source: The Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Abstract: American Journal of Preventative Medicine

Click here for more research on the possible causes of asthma

First Published in August 2011

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