This European Community-initiated book presents an up-to-date account of the air pollution situation with special reference to European cities. Its structure follows by and large the logical chain of events in air pollution, from sources, through dispersion and deposition, to impacts.

This book provides an overview of air quality in urban environments in Europe, focusing on air pollutant emission sources and formation mechanisms, measurement and modeling strategies, and future perspectives. The emission sources described are biomass burning, vehicular traffic, industry and agriculture, but also African dust and long-range transport of pollutants across the European regions. The impact of these emission sources and processes on atmospheric particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen oxides and volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds is discussed and critical areas for particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide in Europe are identified. Finally, this volume presents future perspectives, mainly regarding upcoming air quality monitoring strategies, metrics of interest, such as submicron and nanoparticles, and indoor and outdoor exposure scenarios.

Acid rain, photochemistry, long-range transport of pollutants, greenhouse gas emissions and aerosols have dominated tropospheric air pollution for the last 30 years of the 20th century. At the start of the 21st century, acid rain is subject to planned improvement in Europe and North America, but is still a growing problem in Asia. Tropospheric ozone is understood much better, but the problem is still with us, and desirable levels are difficult to achieve over continental Europe. The heterogeneous chemistry that is responsible for ozone depletion in the stratosphere is now reasonably clear, but there is on-going interest in the sources and sinks of CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) replacements in the troposphere. There is also increasing interest in indoor air quality, and the origin and health implications of atmospheric particles. Perhaps most important on a global perspective, intensive research has not yet determined the relationship between greenhouse gases, aerosols and surface temperature. The climactic implications of these are now more urgent than ever. This book, the first in the Developments in Environmental Science series, consists of a collection of authoritative reviews and essays on the science and application of air pollution research at the start of this new century.

The world's cities are choking on pollution from traffic and industry. With the health of over 1.6 billion people under threat, poor urban air quality is fast becoming one of them most pressing environmental problems of our times. Smog Alert examines the causes and scale of urban air pollution, identifying who is most at risk, and what particular health risks various pollutants pose. It then considers an effective framework for air quality management, so that national and city authorities can consider what pollution control polices and measures are needed to deliver healthy urban air quality, and to sustain it in the future. Having established the background and framework, the book examines the existing and alternative measures to monitor and combat the declining air quality. It assesses smog alert systems; the potential for cleaner car and fuel technology; sustainable traffic management and public transport policies; and methods of controlling both industrial and residential emissions. Detailed case studies illustrate the severity and breadth of the problem - from the first serious photochemical smogs in Los Angeles to the dire warning offered by Mexico City; and from London (the city which coined the word 'smog') to Athens' pollution phenomenon, the 'nefos'. Drawing on the lessons learned from past experience, Smog Alert provides a comprehensive analysis of how health air quality may yet be achieved in the world's cities.

Clean air is an important condition for sustainable development and is a basic requirement for human health and welfare. Air pollutants also contribute to environmental problems such as acidification, eutrophication and global climate change, with impacts on health, crop productivity, forest growth, biodiversity, and the integrity of buildings and cultural monuments. Air pollution is a transboundary environmental problem which still affects wide areas of Europe and thus requires European solutions.Monitoring techniques are needed that address the physical and chemical aspects of air pollution as well as its adverse effects on living organisms and ecosystems. Bioindicator plants have proved to be effective and reliable tools for the detection and monitoring of air pollutant impacts. Besides, they feature several properties that qualify them especially for environmental communication and education. Thus, they are useful in communicating information on the state of the environment to the public and in performing environmental education programmes aiming at switching to more environmentally sound life styles. These were the topics addressed by the EuroBionet ‘Conference on Urban Air Pollution, Bioindication and Environmental Awareness’. The present publication contains the contributions of experts from twenty countries giving an overview of the present state and the perspectives of using bioindicator plants in air quality control and environmental awareness raising in Europe and elsewhere.