Large-scale social media analyses and other studies show that higher air pollution reliably lowers happiness—even beyond its physical health effects—likely due to aesthetic unpleasantness, sensory discomfort, and health-related anxieties, with especially strong impacts on vulnerable groups such as children, older adults, and people with respiratory or heart conditions.

Life satisfaction is strongly and consistently harmed by poor air quality, with most studies showing that pollutants like CO₂, NO₂, PM10, and SO₂ lower perceived quality of life, and research linking higher AQI and urban smog to reduced well-being, though some results may be influenced by factors such as income differences across cities.

Air quality strongly influences both physical and psychological well-being, with many studies showing that higher pollution levels reduce happiness and increase depression symptoms, though evidence is mixed regarding whether air pollution affects life satisfaction, suggesting its emotional impact may be stronger than its effect on cognitive evaluations of well-being.

for - progress trap - reducing nitrogen air pollution - reduces soil carbon storage

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/16/biden-inflation-reduction-act-tax-benefit-wealthy

Zu den vielen negativen Folgen von Hitzewellen gehört, dass sie die Luftqualität verschlechtern. Die World Meteorological Organisation zeigt in ihrem Bericht über Luftqualität und Klima 2022 u.a., dass die Hitzewellen des Jahres zu sehr viel mehr Waldbränden und zu einem bedeutend höheren Anteil an Sahara-Staub in der Luft einiger Regionen führten.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/06/world-meteorologists-point-to-vicious-cycle-of-heatwaves-and-air-pollution

• Air pollution impacts
  • 5.5 million people die each year of air pollution from
    • burning coal
    • driving cars
    • burning fires to clear land
      • and forest fires

• Title
  • Air pollution particles may be cause of dramatic drop in global insect numbers
• Date
  • July 12, 2023
• Publication
  • https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230712124747.htm

Very interesting article, there are few evaluating the effect of actions

Fifth boundary : air pollution

World Health Organization

WHO guidelinesfor indoor air quality

the Guardian. “Wildfire Smoke Has Caused Rise in Covid Infections and Deaths, Study Finds,” August 13, 2021. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/13/wildfire-smoke-covid-infections-deaths-study.

Achakulwisut, P. (n.d.). The U.S. Risks Locking In a Climate Health Crisis in Response to COVID. Scientific American. Retrieved December 10, 2020, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-u-s-risks-locking-in-a-climate-health-crisis-in-response-to-covid/

Dang, H. H., & Trinh, T. (2020). The Beneficial Impacts of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Air Pollution: Evidence from Vietnam. IZA Discussion Paper, 13651.

How monitors (specific measures of specific criteria) are identified in AQS data.

Cicala, S., Holland, S. P., Mansur, E. T., Muller, N. Z., & Yates, A. J. (2020). Expected Health Effects of Reduced Air Pollution from COVID-19 Social Distancing (Working Paper No. 27135; Working Paper Series). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w27135

Koren, M. (2020, April 2). The Pandemic Is Turning the Natural World Upside Down. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/04/coronavirus-pandemic-earth-pollution-noise/609316/

Air Pollution Exposure and COVID-19. COVID-19 and the Labor Market. (n.d.). IZA – Institute of Labor Economics. Retrieved August 7, 2020, from https://covid-19.iza.org/publications/air-pollution-exposure-and-covid-19/

Almond, D., Du, X., & Zhang, S. (2020). Ambiguous Pollution Response to COVID-19 in China (Working Paper No. 27086; Working Paper Series). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w27086

Pandemic Meets Pollution: Poor Air Quality Increases Deaths by COVID-19. COVID-19 and the Labor Market. (n.d.). IZA – Institute of Labor Economics. Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://covid-19.iza.org/publications/dp13418/

Does the COVID-19 Pandemic Improve Global Air Quality? New Cross-​National Evidence on Its Unintended Consequences. COVID-19 and the Labor Market. (n.d.). IZA – Institute of Labor Economics. Retrieved July 29, 2020, from https://covid-19.iza.org/publications/dp13480/

Sharma, R., & Hossain, M. M. (2020). Household air pollution and COVID-19 risk in India: A potential concern [Preprint]. SocArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/4ghde

Expert Reaction

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