Every Breath You Take: Exploring the Science of Our Changing Atmosphere

A leading authority in the field takes readers on a fascinating and surprising journey through the atmosphere—from our lungs to outer space—that will leave readers breathless.

With seven million early deaths each year linked to air pollution, air quality is headline news around the world. But even though we breathe in and out every few seconds, few of us really know what’s in the air all around us. In Every Breath You Take, air quality specialist—and full-time breather—Dr. Mark Broom connects the dots from the atmosphere on distant planets to the holes in the ozone layer to the particles in our lungs.

How do we measure air pollution and what on earth is an odor panel? Why are property prices higher upwind of cities? And will our grandchildren inherit an atmosphere worth breathing? With keen insights on the atmospheric effects of climate change, industrial air pollution, and urbanization in the twenty-first century, Every Breath You Take combines the latest scientific research with Mark’s personal stories to answer these questions and many more in a readable and surprising journey through the atmosphere.

Mark Broomfield has a PhD in atmospheric chemistry and has specialized in air quality, odor, and health issues since 1992. He has been a researcher for the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and an evaluator for the UK Government’s Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards. This is his first book. He lives in Shrewsbury, England.