Concerns about climate change, health
For decades, scientists have known that the effects of global climate change could have a devastating impact across the globe, but Harvard researchers say there is now evidence that it may also have a dramatic impact on public health. In the July 27 issue of Science, a team of researchers led by James G. Anderson, the Philip S. Weld Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry, warns that a newly discovered connection between climate change and depletion of the ozone layer over the United States could allow more damaging ultraviolet (UV) radiation to reach the earth’s surface, leading to increased incidence of skin cancer. In the system described by Anderson and his team, water vapor injected into the stratosphere by powerful thunderstorms converts stable forms of chlorine and bromine into free radicals capable of transforming ozone molecules into oxygen. Recent studies have suggested that the number and intensity of such storms are linked to climate...