Link between Climate Change and Air Quality

A group of institutions, including the National Center for Atmospheric Research, has begun a three-year project to model air quality in the U.S. over the next 50 years. Through the study, funded by the National Science Foundation, EPA, and Forest Service, researchers will examine how air quality will be affected by climate change, wildfires, and changing land-use patterns. One issue to be explored in this project is the effect of climate on natural sources of smog—research has shown that plants emit 15% more volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which contribute to smog formation, for each degree Celsius (1.8 degrees F) rise in temperature. More information is online at www.ucar.edu.