NASA Satellites Help Scientists Determine the Global Burden of Asthma
Asthma is the most prevalent chronic respiratory disease worldwide; affecting 358 million people in 2015—including 14 percent of the world’s children. Pollutant concentrations used to estimate asthma impacts. (A) PM2:5 concentrations in 2015, (B) Ozone concentrations in 2015; and, (C) NO2 concentrations in 2015. Red indicates higher levels; blue indicates lower levels. Scientists have long known that breathing in air sullied by car emissions and other pollutants could trigger asthma attacks. However, a new study supported by NASA’s Health and Air Quality Applied Science Team (HAQAST) is the first to quantify air pollution’s impact on asthma cases around the globe. “Millions of people worldwide have to go to emergency rooms for asthma attacks every year because they are breathing dirty air,” said Susan C. Anenberg, lead author of the study and an Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. Anenberg, who is...