Land-Use Decisions Have Substantial Air Quality Health Effects

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c02280
• Publication Date: 2023-12-15T23:14:45Z
• Authors: Sumil K. Thakrar; Justin A. Johnson; Stephen Polasky
• Keywords: Deforestation

Understanding how best to use limited land without compromising food security, health, and beneficial ecosystem functions is a critical challenge of our time. Ecosystem service assessments increasingly inform land-use decisions but seldom include the effects on air quality, largest environmental health risk. Here, we estimate value quality potential policies projected trends in United States, alongside carbon sequestration economic returns land, until 2051. We show that are first-order importance decisions, often larger than combined. When properly accounted for, appeared shown be detrimental vice versa. Land-use-driven impacts largely from agricultural emissions biogenic forest emissions, although incentives for reduced deforestation remain overall. Without evaluating unable determine whether make us better or worse off.