Integration of climate change considerations into local air quality management plans in South Africa

Abstract

The combustion of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) and biomass for use as energy in homes, industries and motor vehicles, leads to a wide spectrum of air emissions that include nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), and particulate matter (PM). These emissions result in a variety of atmospheric issues that threaten the status of human health and ecosystems through problems such as acidification, eutrophication, anthropogenic induced climate change and smog. Traditionally when it comes to dealing with these problems, policies and scientific research have developed in isolation from each other