Elser, Holly. (2021, May 10). “Air Pollution, METHANE Super-Emitters, and Oil and Gas Wells in Northern California: The Relationship with Migraine Headache Prevalence and Exacerbation.” Environmental Health, BioMed Central. Retrieved August 15, 2021, from link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12940-021-00727-w. 

 

    Air pollution is also starting to become intertwined with our everyday migraines and headaches. Migraines affect over one billion people today, and scientists are beginning to relate some of these cases to the increase of exposure towards fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Sutter Health helps over three million Northern Calirfonians, and they found the relation of migraine case status as well as the severity of the migraines to the abundance of toxins circulating in the air. They claim, “for each 5 ppb increase in NO2, we observed 2% increased odds of migraine case status (95% CI: 1.00, 1.05)”.

    This article dives into the actual specific effects of the pollution on Californians surrounding migraines. As the previous article talked about the general health concerns for us, as we breathe in this toxic air, we find out here that it is also causing migraines to be not only more common, but also more severe. It makes me wonder what other specific health issues it has caused us, that we are just unaware of and have not found out yet. I worry about what all of the environmental issues and science surrounding air pollution and quality will do to humans, plants, animals, etc. in the next few years. As climate change goes hand in hand with air pollution, more and more issues are popping up due to our climate’s struggles.