Air pollution

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Air pollution affects respiratory health in children with asthma

A new study reports that inner-city children with asthma may be particularly vulnerable to air pollution at levels below current air quality standards. The study, available online today, analyzes the short-term effects of outdoor pollution levels on asthma symptoms and lung function in children. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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SUVs In China Drive On Fat Wallets While Choking on Dirty Air

As sport utility vehicles (SUVs) become increasingly unpopular in Europe and the United States, the gas-guzzling wagons are capturing the attention of an expanding class of Chinese consumers with fat wallets. The rapid increase in SUV sales in China is the result of a strong push by international automakers to capitalize on the huge Chinese market, using captivating ads to stimulate an individualistic SUV culture.

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Black carbon pollution emerges as major player in global warming

Black carbon, a form of particulate air pollution most often produced from biomass burning, cooking with solid fuels and diesel exhaust, has a warming effect in the atmosphere three to four times greater than prevailing estimates, according to scientists in an upcoming review article in the journal Nature Geoscience.

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UC San Diego chemists find important contributor to smog

Chemists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that a chemical reaction in the atmosphere above major cities long assumed to be unimportant in urban air pollution is in fact a significant contributor to urban ozone—the main component of smog.

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Arctic pollution's surprising history

Scientists know that air pollution particles from mid-latitude cities migrate to the Arctic and form an ugly haze, but a new University of Utah study finds surprising evidence that polar explorers saw the same phenomenon as early as 1870.

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NASA satellite measures pollution from east Asia to North America

In a new NASA study, researchers taking advantage of improvements in satellite sensor capabilities offer the first measurement-based estimate of the amount of pollution from East Asian forest fires, urban exhaust, and industrial production that makes its way to western North America.

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Alarming growth in expected CO2 emissions in China

Berkeley - The growth in China's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is far outpacing previous estimates, making the goal of stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gases even more difficult, according to a new analysis by economists at the University of California, Berkeley, and UC San Diego.

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New material capable of eliminating pollutants by hydrocarbon industry

A research team of the University of Granada has managed to produce the most useful material to date to eliminate pollutants such as benzene, toluene and xylene, organic solvents widely used in the hydrocarbon industry and generated by road traffic in cities.

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Nitrous oxide, definitely no laughing matter

Farmers, food suppliers, policy-makers, business leaders and environmentalists are joining forces to confront the threat of the ‘forgotten greenhouse gas’ by taking part in an influential new forum at the University of East Anglia (UEA).

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HEPA filters improve cardiovascular function

According to a new research, the content of interior air could affect health and comfort of building occupants.

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Impacts of fossil fuels on fish and people

Scientist John Incardona will tell a scientific detective story that uncovers a previously unrecognized threat to human health from a ubiquitous class of air pollutants.

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Extent of harmful human influences on global ecosystems

More than 40 percent of the world’s oceans are heavily impacted by human activities, including overfishing and pollution, according to a new study that will appear in tomorrow’s peer-reviewed journal Science.

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