Climate change and air quality 'need to be harmonised'

Air quality improvement efforts and climate change regulations need to be more closely associated, scientists have claimed.

The recommendations were made during this week's United Nations conference on climate change held in Poland this week.

Scientists stated that the same aerosols and gases associated with climate change are also linked with human health and air quality in cities.

Recent research linking the carbon cycle with aerosols and ozone gases was alluded to during the conference.

Head of climate change advice at the Met Office Vicky Pope said that an increase in carbon dioxide levels "reduces the removal of ozone by plants […] resulting in a higher atmospheric ozone concentrations".

"High levels of ozone poison plants and reduce the rate of photosynthesis which, in turn, reduces the absorption of CO2 by plants, leading to increased global warming," she continued.

In related news, the concluding report of a recent senate inquiry in the US claimed that the opinions of farmers are not being considered enough by environmental regulators when it comes to the connections between soil and climate change.