Every Breath You Take: A User's Guide to the Atmosphere - Softcover

Mark Broomfield

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0715653709 ISBN 13: 9780715653708

Publisher: Duckworth, 2019

Synopsis

A fascinating journey through the atmosphere that will leave readers breathless.

We breathe in and out every few seconds. But what's really in the air all around us? From the atmosphere on distant planets to the stuff that gets into our lungs, from holes in the ozone layer to lazy and disappearing gases, air quality specialist and full-time breather Dr Mark Broomfield is here to join up the particles and tell us everything we need to know about every breath we take.

With seven million early deaths a year linked to air pollution, air quality is headline news around the world. But how do we measure air pollution and what on earth is an odour panel? Why are property prices higher upwind of cities? Should you buy, hold on to, or avoid a diesel car? And will our grandchildren inherit an atmosphere worth breathing?

Every Breath You Take combines scientific evidence with Mark's personal stories and advice on what you can do to improve air quality, giving us the low-down on what's up high.

***PRAISE FOR EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE***

'Written in an easily accessible style yet get across important facts about the world and what we are doing to it.' Peter Wadhams, author of A Farewell to Ice

'Not without raising a wry smile, the author takes us from the atmospheres of the planets to the air outside our front door... a fascinating read.' Professor Duncan Laxen, Associate of Air Quality Consultants

'Mark Broomfield s writing is just the breath of fresh air needed to lift the fog on atmospheric sciences.' Piers Forster, Professor of Physical Climate Change, University of Leeds

About this title

Review:

'Not without raising a wry smile, the author takes us from the atmospheres of the planets to the air outside our front door... a fascinating read.' Professor Duncan Laxen, Associate of Air Quality Consultants

'Every Breath You Take is one of that happy group of books that are written in an easily accessible style yet get across important facts about the world and what we are doing to it. Seemingly jocular in tone, Broomfield begins by dealing with atmospheres in general, on bodies in outer space, then closes in to deal with the structure of our own atmosphere. I learned many useful facts. But the book really comes into its own when he goes on to deal with the ways in which we are threatening the future of the planet, and of ourselves, by polluting the atmosphere. Amid entertaining slices of history about London smogs, the Clean Air Act and why the expensive districts of British towns are on the west side (to take advantage of a climate where prevailing winds are westerly), Broomfield hammers home a very clear statistic air pollution causes seven million premature deaths per year, more than smoking, more than road accidents, while in the UK it is estimated to shorten the average lifespan by 6 months... Broomfield performs a very important service. Go out in your diesel car and buy this book, then read it while you huddle beside your wood burning stove.' Peter Wadhams, author of A Farewell to Ice and Head of the Polar Ocean Physics Group, University of Cambridge

'Mark Broomfield s writing is just the breath of fresh air needed to lift the fog on atmospheric sciences and atmospheric chemistry in particular. His love of the research and the community he is part of shines through to ensure the book effortlessly links planet formation, air pollution, the ozone hole and climate change. Mark shows us that the air we breathe has no boundaries.' --Piers Forster, Professor of Physical Climate Change and Director of the Priestley International Centre for Climate at the University of Leeds

About the Author:

Mark Broomfield has a PhD in atmospheric chemistry, and has specialised in air quality, odour and health issues since 1992, both within the consultancy sector and as an industry specialist at ICI. He has completed research for DEFRA and Scottish Environment Protection Agency into the control of dioxins and furans, and carried out influential evaluations of the Government's Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards and Air Quality Expert Group. He lives in Shrewsbury.

About this edition

• Publisher: Duckworth
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0715653709
• ISBN 13: 9780715653708
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320