Extreme weather events that are being driven by climate change, such as heat waves, can exacerbate urban air pollution and threaten people’s health, according to new research.
A study in Climate and Atmospheric Science found that 90 percent of organic aerosols in the air over Long Island, New York, in 2023, were sensitive to global changes like extreme heat and wildfire smoke.
Aerosol pollution is made up of particles released into the air from sources such as household cleaning solutions, cooking in restaurants, vehicle exhaust and burning forests. They can also form naturally when plants release gases through evaporation.
Delphine Farmer, a chemistry professor at Colorado State University, set out to track aerosol pollution in the New York City area in 2023. She was hoping to characterize and identify the origins of airborne organic aerosols beyond typical sources, like industrial pollution or transportation. As it happened, she and her team began taking continuous on-the-ground readings on Long Island just as wildfire smoke from Canada blew across the border, turning East Coast skies orange.
