Air Quality News

September 28, 2016

Cosmic Dust Demystified

92% of People Exposed to Serious Air Pollution

Global Rise in Methane from Agriculture?

Acidity in Atmosphere At Preindustrial Levels

Latest Headlines

updated 4:29am EDT

Volcano Emissions Linked to Increases in Asthma Attacks

Sep. 27, 2016 — A new study from the active volcano K?lauea, which is on the big island of Hawaii, reports that people -- especially children -- with asthma are at greater risk of having serious asthma attacks if ... read more

Soil Modeling to Help Curb Climate Change

Sep. 26, 2016 — Soil is a major carbon pool, whose impact on climate change is still not fully understood. According to a recent study, however, soil carbon stocks and could be modeled more accurately by factoring ... read more

Underwater 'Cystoseira Zosteroides' Forests, the Mediterranean Algae, Threatened by Human Activity Impact

Sep. 23, 2016 — The effects of an intense storm every twenty-five years could make the marine alga populations of <em>Cystoseira ... read more

Soil Will Absorb Less Atmospheric Carbon Than Expected This Century, Study Finds

Sep. 22, 2016 — By adding highly accurate radiocarbon dating of soil to standard Earth system models, environmental scientists have learned ... read more

Scientists Triple Known Types of Viruses in World’s Oceans

Sep. 21, 2016 — Researchers report they've tripled the known types of viruses living in waters around the globe, and now have a better idea what role they play in nature. The discovery could ... read more

Antarctic Mystery Solved?

Sep. 21, 2016 — Tiny ocean fossils distributed widely across rock surfaces in the Transantarctic Mountains point to the potential for a substantial rise in global sea levels under conditions ... read more

Environmental Stress Enhances the Effects of Pollutants

Sep. 21, 2016 — Each and every organism on Earth is exposed to the influence of various environmental conditions and of other living organisms. These factors can trigger stress and make the ... read more

VW Emissions Cheat May Lead to 50 Premature Deaths, $423 Million in Economic Costs, Study Shows

Sep. 20, 2016 — Beginning in 2008, Volkswagen installed software to circumvent emissions testing by turning off the nitrogen oxides (NOx) ... read more

Atmospheric Rivers Come Into Focus With High-Res Climate Model

Sep. 19, 2016 — A high-resolution climate model is able to accurately capture the ribbons of moist air that sometimes escape the sodden tropics and flow toward the drier mid-latitudes, ... read more

Smoke from 2015 Indonesian Fires May Have Caused 100,000 Premature Deaths

Sep. 19, 2016 — In the fall of 2015, hazardous levels of smoke from agricultural fires blanketed much of Equatorial Asia. Schools and businesses closed, planes were grounded and tens of ... read more

9 Out Of 10 People On Earth Are Breathing Polluted Air

Paris Abandons Cars for the Day to Curb Pollution

Water Contamination in New Zealand Leaves Thousands Ill

Louisiana Braces for More Rain After 'historic' Floods

An Algorithm for Taxi Sharing

Sep. 26, 2016 — Researchers in Uruguay have developed an evolutionary algorithm to allow a smart city to facilitate efficient taxi sharing to cut an individual's transport costs as well as reduce congestion and ... read more

Stronger Turbine Blades With Molybdenum Silicides

Sep. 23, 2016 — Molybdenum silicides can improve the efficiency of turbine blades in ultrahigh-temperature combustion systems, researchers have ... read more

Alternative Methods to Understand the Water Regime of the Temporary Rivers

Sep. 21, 2016 — When there are no data due to a lack of hydrometric station, interviews to neighbors and air photographs of water environment are the effective methods to collect information on the water regime of ... read more

Solar Radiation Variability Over Italy in the Last 55 Years Reconstructed for the First Time

Sep. 19, 2016 — Surface solar radiation variability over Italy from the end of the 1950s has been reconstructed in a new framework, report scientists. This information -- based on more than 50 daily records ... read more

Brain Benefits of Aerobic Exercise Lost to Mercury Exposure

Sep. 16, 2016 — Cognitive function improves with aerobic exercise, but not for people exposed to high levels of mercury before birth, according to new ... read more

How and Why Are Measurements of Ozone Taken from Space?

Sep. 16, 2016 — The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica became an international cause for concern in the latter half of the 20th Century, but researchers point out that the issues relating to ozone levels are ... read more

Assessing Health Risks from Oil and Gas Operations

Sep. 15, 2016 — A new study of air pollutant emissions from northern Front Range oil and gas operations has been presented to state officials in ... read more

2016 Ties With 2007 for Second Lowest Arctic Sea Ice Minimum

Sep. 15, 2016 — The Arctic's ice cover appears to have reached its minimum extent on September 10, 2016, according to scientists. Arctic sea ice extent on that day stood at 4.14 million square kilometers (1.60 ... read more

Urban Shorelines Support More Animal Life, Floating DNA Reveals

Sep. 15, 2016 — Researchers are now able to capture the cells of animals, sequence their DNA and identify which species were present in water at a point in time. A new University of Washington study is the first to ... read more

Food Waste Could Store Solar, Wind Energy

Sep. 15, 2016 — Saving up excess solar and wind energy for times when the sun is down or the air is still requires a storage device. Batteries get the most attention as a promising solution although pumped ... read more

Comprehensive Study Finds Widespread Mercury Contamination Across Western North America

Sep. 14, 2016 — Widespread mercury contamination has been recently documented in air, soil, sediment, plants, fish, and wildlife at various levels across Western North ... read more

Greenhouse Gas-Monitoring Aircraft Keep Tabs on the Amazon's Rising Methane Levels

Sep. 14, 2016 — New research into Amazon wetland emissions has been published by scientists. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, second only to carbon dioxide in its contribution to global ... read more

Study Links Altered Brain Chemistry, Behavioral Impairments in Fish Exposed to Elevated Carbon Dioxide

Sep. 13, 2016 — Increased carbon dioxide concentrations alters brain chemistry that may lead to neurological impairment in some fish, a first-of-its-kind study ... read more

Asphalt-Based Carbon-Capture Material Advances

Sep. 13, 2016 — Scientists have improved the ability of asphalt-derived porous carbon to capture carbon dioxide from natural ... read more

Westerly Winds Have Blown Across Central Asia for at Least 42 Million Years

Sep. 13, 2016 — The winds that gust across the Tibetan Plateau have done so for far longer than previously believed, showing they are resilient to the formation of mountains and changes in carbon dioxide and ... read more

Unprecedented Atmospheric Behavior Disrupts One of Earth's Most Regular Climate Cycles

Sep. 8, 2016 — A team of scientists has discovered an unexpected disruption in one of the most repeatable atmospheric ... read more

Air Pollution a Risk Factor for Diabetes, Say Researchers

Sep. 8, 2016 — Exposure to air pollution at the place of residence increases the risk of developing insulin resistance as a pre-diabetic state of type 2 diabetes, report ... read more

Calculating the Role of Lakes in Global Warming

Sep. 7, 2016 — As global temperatures rise, how will lake ecosystems respond? As they warm, will lakes -- which make up only 3 percent of the landscape, but bury more carbon than the world's oceans combined -- ... read more

Antimicrobial Chemicals Found With Antibiotic-Resistance Genes in Indoor Dust

Sep. 7, 2016 — University of Oregon researchers have found links between the levels of antimicrobial chemicals and antibiotic-resistance genes in the dust of an aging building used for athletics and academics. One ... read more

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Sep. 7, 2016 — Want to help mitigate global climate change? Grow some veggies. According to a new study, turning lawn into a vegetable garden can reduce greenhouse gas ... read more

Monday, September 26, 2016