THE WEATHER CHANNEL - Breathing is going to be more difficult in the future and the source of the problem might surprise you.
We're already aware of how human sources of pollution can cause or worsen all sorts of health problems, including asthma, autoimmune diseases and lung cancer. And the combined effects of ambient, or outdoor, air pollution and household air pollution are associated with more than 7 million premature deaths annually, according to the World Health Organization.
Now researchers warn that rising global temperatures could lead to an increase in pollution from natural sources.
If global temperatures rise by 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius), harmful plant emissions and dust will increase by as much as 14%, according to the UC Riverside research.
Gomez, a UC Riverside doctoral student, explains that all plants produce chemicals called biogenic volatile organic compounds, or BVOCs.
“The smell of a just-mowed lawn, or the sweetness of a ripe strawberry, those are BVOCs. Plants are constantly emitting them,” he said in a news release about the study.