Indoor Air Quality in the Context of Climate Change

Abstract

There is now unequivocal evidence that the climate is rapidly changing due to the accumulation of anthropogenic warming pollutants (e.g., carbon dioxide, methane) in the Earth’s atmosphere. Climate change may affect indoor air quality and associated health impacts via increases in indoor temperatures, higher or lower emissions of pollutants from indoor sources, changes in ambient air pollution driven by climate change, changes in building construction and operations that alter ventilation rates, and changing activity patterns and behaviors, including use of windows and air-conditioning. These changes will be driven not only by climate change itself, but also by efforts to adapt to or mitigate climate change, and will occur in parallel with other societal trends, such as population growth and urbanization, that could impact the built environment and IAQ. Those most vulnerable to climate-related changes in the indoor environment likely include the poor, the elderly, and children. While the challenges posed by climate change for IAQ are not qualitatively new, the pace and complexity of future changes will offer new challenges, as will the societal transformations needed to transition to a net zero carbon if we are to avert more severe climate change. Since the residential indoor environment is where individuals who are most vulnerable to climate change are and will continue to be found in the largest numbers, it is critical that policy makers and technology developers focus their efforts on finding ways to keep those places as healthy as possible to all members of society in the face of climate change.