Air Quality

Air quality has become one of the greatest environmental issues of modern times, following improved access to fresh water in many parts of the world. Each year, both outdoor and indoor air pollution are thought to contribute to millions of premature deaths worldwide. Despite increased awareness of the hazards associated with air pollution, there remain significant gaps in our understanding of the science of air quality. Future research will lead to a better understanding of the sources of key atmospheric pollutants, including precursors and the chemistry that leads to production of atmospheric toxins. Improvements are needed in our understanding of the epidemiology of air quality and our understanding is also limited by a lack of comprehensive atmospheric composition measurements in the heterogeneous urban air-shed. Advances in air quality modelling techniques are also needed, as is an understanding of how to bridge the scales between atmospheric models and atmospheric observations. This section aims to publish research that contributes to a better understanding of all these aspects of air quality.