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[[Particulate matter]] (PM), also known as '''particle pollution,''' includes the tiny particles of [[fly ash]] and dust that are expelled from coal-burning power plants. Fine particles are a mixture of a variety of different compounds and pollutants that originate primarily from combustion sources such as power plants, but also diesel trucks and buses, cars, etc. Fine particles are either emitted directly from these combustion sources or are formed in the atmosphere through complex oxidation reactions involving gases, such as [[sulfur dioxide]] (SO2) or nitrogen oxides (NOX). Among particles, fine particles are of particular concern because they are so tiny that they can be inhaled deeply, thus evading the human lungs' natural defenses.<ref name="em">[http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/cleanair.htm "Coal Plant pollution kills 30,000 people each year"] EcoMall, accessed August 2010.</ref>
===CO2 and air pollutants===
A 2009 study, [http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/Articles/V/CO2loc0709EST.pdf “Enhancement of Local Air Pollution by Urban CO2 Domes,”] published in Environmental Science & Technology by Mark Z. Jacobson, found that domes of increased [[carbon dioxide]] concentrations – discovered to form above cities more than a decade ago – cause local temperature increases that in turn increase the amounts of local air pollutants, raising concentrations of health-damaging ground-level [[ozone]] as well as [[particulate matter]] in urban air.
According to Jacobson: "Warming increases water vapor, and both water vapor and higher temperatures increase ozone where the ozone is already high but have less effect where the ozone is low.
Carbon dioxide domes over cities increase temperatures over the cities above and beyond the heat island effect, and these higher temperatures increase water vapor, and both higher water vapor and higher temperatures increase the rates of chemical air pollution production over cities relative to rural areas. The results suggest a causal nature of increased air pollution mortality due to increased carbon dioxide where the air pollution is already high. Thus, controlling CO2 emissions at the local level will reduce air pollution and the resulting air pollution mortality."
Jacobson’s estimates that “reducing local CO2 may reduce 300-1000 premature air pollution mortalities/yr in the U.S. and 50-100/yr in California, even if CO2 in adjacent regions is not controlled.”
==Respiratory Effects==