The Challenge

Concentrated industrial and transportation activities contribute to conventional air pollution and other threats to public health, but with the increasing scale of human activity and transport of pollutants through air and water, both urban and rural areas are affected.

With an ever‑greater share of the population residing in urban areas, cities are becoming more of a focus in global change discussions. Urbanization is a major force in developing regions—where megacities have emerged and will continue to rise—and city development paths may be the key to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, conventional air pollutants and vulnerability to environmental change. Thus, cities find themselves on the front line of developing strategies that jointly mitigate GHG and pollutant emissions while adapting to unavoidable climate change.

Our Response

Our Integrated Global System Monitoring (IGSM) framework allows us to simulate the effects of population growth on the demand for natural resources, energy and GHG emissions, and includes models of urban and regional air pollutants and their impacts on human health.

To learn how your organization can benefit from funding our research, please visit the Joint Program Sponsorship page.