New research underscores how air quality is crucial to our mental health.
Suicide rates among older adults are elevated in areas of China where there are high levels of air pollution, with older women being the most susceptible group, according to U.S. and Chinese researchers.
"We often think about suicide and mental health as a problem to be understood and solved at an individual level," said Tamma Carleton, co-lead author of the findings published in Nature Sustainability and assistant professor at UC Santa Barbara, according to Phys.org. "This result points to the important role of public policy, of environmental policy, in mitigating mental health and suicide crises outside of individual-level intervention."
The link between air pollution being a significant environmental risk and a central component of human-manufactured climate change is well established. Black carbon, part of the fine particle makeup of air pollution, is behind carbon dioxide as a substantial driver of global warming because it absorbs sunlight.
What's less understood is the link between air pollution and mental health. This study adds to the mounting evidence.
The discovery parallels technological advancements around the globe that are turning air pollution into air solutions.
A startup in Iceland has found a way to store carbon dioxide underground by mixing it with water and piping it into rock. Researchers in the U.S. developed a system to convert carbon dioxide into propane, which would make Hank Hill very happy.
Legislation recently passed to help communities combat air pollution as well. At the federal level, President Joe Biden announced $53 million of funding for over 130 air pollution monitoring systems for communities nationwide late in 2022. That same year, New York announced a statewide air quality and greenhouse gas monitoring system specifically aimed at "areas overburdened by environmental pollution."
There are many ways to make small differences that add up in our own lives, too.
If you own a car and want to make an impact immediately that doesn't require switching to an EV, learning how to use your vehicle more efficiently will lessen planet-warming air pollution and save you money. Excessive braking, speeding, and rapid acceleration on the highway can reduce your gas mileage by as much as 30%.
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