posted 08/04/04

How Global Warming Causes More Bad Air Days

While researchers at Columbia's New York Climate and Health Project (NYCHP) were investigating the health impacts of climate change in the New York metropolitan region, they were simultaneously collaborating on a national report using their innovative modelling and prediction techniques. The national report, released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council, is called Heat Advisory: How Global Warming Causes More Bad Air Days.

"Smog is a persistent air pollution problem for millions of Americans," said Patrick Kinney, associate professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, and one of the principal authors of the new NRDC report, as well as the New York regional assessment announced at the Earth Institute at Columbia in June. "Our research shows that global warming is likely to make this problem even harder to manage."

For more details on the new NRDC, report see: http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/heatadvisory/contents.asp or http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressReleases/040804.asp For more details or to download the New York Climate and Health Project report, see http://www.earth.columbia.edu/news/2004/story06-11-04.html.

About the Earth Institute at Columbia University
The Earth Institute at Columbia University is a leading academic center for the integrated study of Earth, its environment, and society. The Earth Institute builds upon excellence in the core disciplines — earth sciences, biological sciences, engineering sciences, social sciences and health sciences — and stresses cross-disciplinary approaches to complex problems. Through its research, training and global partnerships, it mobilizes science and technology to advance sustainable development, while placing special emphasis on the needs of the world’s poor.

About the Mailman School of Public Health
The only accredited school of public health in New York City, and among the first in the nation, Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health provides instruction and research opportunities to more than 800 graduate students in pursuit of masters and doctoral degrees. Its students and over 200 multi-disciplinary faculty engage in research and service in the city, nation, and around the world, concentrating on biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health policy and management, population and family health, and sociomedical sciences. For more information please visit www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu

About the Natural Resources Defense Council
NRDC is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more than 1 million members and e-activists nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Santa Monica and San Francisco. More information is available at www.nrdc.org.

The Earth Institute at Columbia University is among the world’s leading academic centers for the integrated study of Earth, its environment, and society. The Earth Institute builds upon excellence in the core disciplines—earth sciences, biological sciences, engineering sciences, social sciences and health sciences—and stresses cross-disciplinary approaches to complex problems. Through its research, training and global partnerships, it mobilizes science and technology to advance sustainable development, while placing special emphasis on the needs of the world’s poor.