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Air Quality and Human Health Effects of Global Gasoline and Diesel Sectors
YAOXIAN HUANG, Nadine Unger, Kandice Harper, Chris Heyes, Wayne State University
Abstract Number: 72
Working Group: Health-Related Aerosols
Abstract
Transportation emissions from the global gasoline and diesel fuel vehicle fleets play an essential role in affecting the air quality and human health. In this study, we quantify the impacts of the global on-road gasoline and diesel emissions on air quality and human health using the NCAR CESM global chemistry-climate model for year 2015 emissions from the IIASA GAINS inventory. We focus on PM2.5 and ozone (O3) impacts for both air quality and human health associated with the gasoline and diesel sectors. Annual mean surface PM2.5 concentrations for the global gasoline and diesel emissions were up to 6.0 and 3.0 µg m-3 respectively. For the gasoline sector, we found that there were large increases in surface PM2.5 concentrations over China, Southeast Asia, and North America. For the diesel sector, substantial increases in surface PM2.5 concentrations were found over India, China, and the Middle East. In terms of surface O3, increases in annual mean surface O3 concentrations attributable to gasoline and diesel sectors were up to 8.5 ppbv and 6.7 ppbv, respectively. Global annual total PM2.5- and O3-induced premature deaths for gasoline and diesel sectors for the year 2015 were 115,000 [95% confidence interval (CI): 69,000-153,600] and 122,100 (95% CI: 78,500-157,500), with corresponding years of life lost of 2.10 (95% CI: 1.23-2.66) and 2.21 (95% CI: 1.47-2.85) million years. We developed a metric of regional premature death rates, defined as regional annual total premature deaths normalized by regional annual total vehicle distance traveled for each fuel type. Regional premature death rates varied by a factor of eight and two orders of magnitude for the gasoline and diesel sectors, respectively, with India showing the highest for both gasoline and diesel sectors.