Climate Change and Human Health Impacts in the United States: An Update on the Results of the U.S. National Assessment

Ebi, Kristie L.; Mills, David M.; Smith, Joel B.; Grambsch, Anne

In our review, we identified no publications that credibly challenge long-standing conclusions that increases in the concentration of airborne pollutants would increase morbidity and premature mortality. This general conclusion is consistent with the increase in the range of nonfatal outcomes that have been associated with changes in air pollutant concentrations and expansions in the populations viewed as being at risk. As an example, an area of ongoing regulatory interest and active research concerns the potential for exposure to ambient air pollutants to increase the incidence of low-birth-weight deliveries (e.g., Chen et al. 2002; Ritz and Yu 1999; Wilhelm and Ritz 2003) ; research results in U.S. study populations are inconclusive.