Days of heavy air pollution in Melbourne are likely to increase in severity in future as climate change causes more extreme weather inversion events, worsening health issues, according to a recent study.
Jason Evans, co-author of the study published in Climate Dynamics, says an estimated 3000 deaths in Australia are already related to poor air quality and deteriorating standards could potentially see a rise in premature, pollution-related deaths in future.
Inversion events occur when cooler air is trapped beneath warmer air in the atmosphere, leading to stagnant air flow. This allows a build up of pollutants, dust and pollen, leading to potential health implications.
What the study uncovered was a substantial change in the likely intensity of future inversions in Melbourne.
“The net result for Melbourne is that we are getting essentially more of these inversions, that will be stronger when they happen,” Professor Evans said.
The study projected the strength of daytime inversions would increase by as much as 53 per cent in future decades compared with the 1990-2009 period, which would affect many people.
“Eighty per cent of people in Australia live in cities, so that’s where the people are that can actually have health problems because of the pollution,” he said.
Complicating matters further, ideal conditions for inversions to develop tend to be overnight during stable atmospheric periods.
This means inversion events are likely to be at their strongest during the day, when health impacts will be intensified.
“The impacts are associated with ones that extend through the daytime, when people are out and about and actually breathing the pollution,” Professor Evans said.
“But by world standards, we’re among the good end of air pollution quality globally. Having said that something like 3000 deaths a year are due to pollution, so there’s still work to be done.,”
(Feature image: Melbourne’s CBD. Photo: Stephen Smit)
