Air Pollution across the Mediterranean Basin: Modelling, Measurements and Policy Implications

The Mediterranean Basin still does suffer from the impact of anthropogenic pressures which lead to environmental degradation. Chemical pollution, maritime transport and climate change are key factors causing air quality degradation at both regional and local scales. On the other hand, air pollutant dynamics and distribution in the Mediterranean region are closely related to its unique geographical characteristics and specific weather conditions that favour the enhancement of air pollutant photochemical production and accumulation. Poor air quality within the Mediterranean Basin has effects on human health, ecosystem conditions and economic resources. Already existing measures to manage pressures have been proven inadequate and the European Commission proposed new policies and environmental legislation, both currently close to adoption. Owing to this context, the work developed during this PhD focuses over the Mediterranean region in order to investigate key pressure affecting Mediterranean regional air quality, to gain further insight into the atmospheric mechanisms leading to high air pollutant levels across the Mediterranean Basin and to describe the resulting trade-offs that will have to be dealt by management and policy. These overall goals have been achieved through the assimilation and integration of monitoring-based data with the supporting facilities of the CNR-IIA (Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research of the Italian National Research Council) - Division of Rende (CS). The DPSIR (Driver-Pressure-State-Impacts-Response) conceptual framework has been followed in the PhD dissertation to highlight the several factors influencing this complex study. The DPSIR model, adopted by the European Environmental Agency, is in fact useful in describing the relationships between the origins and consequences of environmental problems; furthermore, in order to understand their dynamics, it is also useful to focus on the links between DPSIR elements.