Case Study: JBA Trust
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Air quality links to climate change
Poor air quality is a global threat to human and ecosystem health, with climate change projected to exacerbate air quality problems through meteorological changes. Many air quality pollutants may also contribute to climate change themselves, making this a perpetual problem. Air pollution is a national and international issue, with sources of air pollution ranging from road traffic and power stations to industrial and agricultural processes.
The JBA Trust is collaborating with Lancaster University to develop new methods and tools to communicate climate change and air quality risk to national and international stakeholders. The JBA Trust was created in 2011 as an independent charity that promotes the growth of knowledge and skills in environmental risk management.
Professor Rob Lamb, Director of JBA Trust says "We are supporting this research to help ensure that the latest scientific understanding of the relationship between climate change and air quality can be communicated to business and decision makers at municipal or national levels and NGOs. That understanding may have profound implications for multiple sectors including health, transport and urban planning."
Suzanne Van Zuijlen, Graduate Researcher, says “Being able to work on this project is truly exciting as poor air quality has an impact on both health and the environment. The overall aim of this PhD project is to use models and observations to bring new understanding around the links between air quality and climate change. The goal is to develop this understanding in a way that it can be readily used by decision makers in their risk planning processes.”
This project is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
JBA TRUST
JBA Trust is a charity supporting research, shared knowledge and skills in environmental risk management. It works with leading academic researchers, NGOs, charities and the JBA Group providing insight and technical expertise.
PROJECT
Poor air quality is a global threat to both human and ecosystem health. Climate change will exacerbate these problems and many air pollutants are greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. Solving air pollution is a “win win” solution for tackling the challenge of climate and
health. This project developed new methods and tools to communicate climate change and air quality risk to national and international stakeholders. The project created a detailed “air quality atlas” and developed air quality climate indices to express risk in terms of climate scenarios without needing an expensive climate model.
SUZANNE VAN ZUIJLEN
Suzanne has been interested in oceanography since her time living on the archipelago of Mayotte, situated in the Indian Ocean near Mozambique. She is keen to improve knowledge across air and water quality and has a Master’s Degree in both Physical and Biogeochemical Oceanography and Atmosphere Ocean Continent studies.
Lead Academic Supervisor:
Dr Paul Young
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