Pollution News

August 18, 2016

Smoke Waves To Affect Millions in Coming Decades

Laundry Adds Flame Retardants to Surface Waters

Hidden Pollution Sharing: Oceans and Groundwater

Historical Records Miss Fifth of Global Warming

Latest Headlines

updated 8:26pm EDT

Scientists Explore Oil Clean-Up Properties of Aquatic Ferns

Aug. 17, 2016 — Certain varieties of aquatic floating weeds demonstrate an impressive ability to selectively absorb oil from contaminated water. These plants, which are often regarded as a ... read more

New Residential Water Heater Concept Promises High Efficiency, Lower Cost

Aug. 15, 2016 — Scientists have developed a novel method that could yield lower-cost, higher-efficiency systems for water heating in residential buildings, outlines a new report. The newly ... read more

'Chemtrails' Not Real, Say Atmospheric Science Experts

Aug. 12, 2016 — Well-understood physical and chemical processes can easily explain the alleged evidence of a secret, large-scale atmospheric spraying program, commonly referred to as ... read more

Discovery of Sunlight-Driven Organic Chemistry on Water Surfaces

Aug. 11, 2016 — Fatty acids found on the surface of water droplets react with sunlight to form organic molecules, a new study reports, essentially uncovering a previously unknown form ... read more

Tighter Air Pollution Standards May Save Thousands of Lives, Greatly Improve Public Health

Aug. 10, 2016 — Reducing outdoor concentrations of two air pollutants, ozone and fine particulate matter to levels below those set by the US Environmental Protection ... read more

Accounting for Ozone: Study First to Quantify Impact of Oil and Gas Emissions on Denver's Ozone Problem

Aug. 8, 2016 — A new study is the first to directly quantify how emissions from oil and gas activities influence summertime ozone pollution in the Colorado Front ... read more

Hidden, Local Climate Impacts of Drought-Friendly Vegetation

Aug. 5, 2016 — Scientists determined that if a many Los Angeles property owners switch their lawns to drought-tolerant landscaping, it could increase local temperatures and exacerbate heat waves, and would have ... read more

Mechanisms on Why 'Green' Helps in Urban Life

Aug. 2, 2016 — New research finds that airborne bacterial communities differ from one urban park to the next but those of parking lots are alike -- and differ from those of parks in subtle ... read more

Antarctic Sea Ice May Be a Source of Mercury in Southern Ocean Fish and Birds

Aug. 1, 2016 — New research has found methylmercury -- a potent neurotoxin - in sea ice in the Southern Ocean. The results are the first to ... read more

Rice Crops That Can Save Farmers Money and Cut Pollution

July 29, 2016 — A new study has identified 'superstar' varieties of rice that can reduce fertilizer loss and cut down on environmental pollution in the process, ... read more

Water Contamination in New Zealand Leaves Thousands Ill

Michigan's Lead Problem Extends Beyond Flint

Mexico City Raises Green Awareness With Vertical Gardens

Researchers: Flint Water 'Dramatically Better'

In Right Balance, Environmental Regulations Increased Firms' Profits, New Study Finds

Aug. 12, 2016 — CEOs and corporate lobbyists often spend plenty of time decrying how potential government regulations will affect their bottom line, but a new study finds that the US Clean Water Act, when ... read more

Noisy Neighbours: Measuring the Impact of Human-Generated Noise Pollution on Sea Mammals in the Mediterranean

Aug. 8, 2016 — A new study is set to to analyze the possible influence of anthropogenic or human-generated disturbances on different cetacean mammals in the Mediterranean Sea. It focuses on three areas within the ... read more

Oil Pollution a Threat to Haddock

July 28, 2016 — Haddock is an important fish species that has its most important spawning ground in and around Norway’s northern Lofoten archipelago, where oil production is being planned. However, research now ... read more

Carbon-Financed Cookstove Fails to Deliver Hoped-for Benefits in the Field

July 27, 2016 — A study of the the first clean cookstove intervention in India financed through the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism found expected benefits from newer, more 'efficient' ... read more

Watering Solar Cells Makes Them Grow in Power

July 27, 2016 — Perovskite solar cells are the rising star in the photovoltaic landscape. Since their invention, less than ten years ago, their efficiency has doubled twice and it is now over 22% -- an astonishing ... read more

Cleaner Air May Be Driving Water Quality in Chesapeake Bay

July 26, 2016 — A new study suggests that improvements in air quality over the Potomac watershed, including the Washington, D.C., metro area, may be responsible for recent progress on water quality in the Chesapeake ... read more

Silicon-Air Battery Achieves Running Time of Over 1,000 Hours for the First Time

July 26, 2016 — Silicon-air batteries are viewed as a promising and cost-effective alternative to current energy storage technology. However, they have thus far only achieved relatively short running times. ... read more

Less Fertilizer Good News for the Great Barrier Reef

July 25, 2016 — Researchers have shown a way to potentially halve the amount of fertilizer dairy farmers use while maintaining pasture yields, providing improved protection for the Great Barrier ... read more

Cities Face Dramatic Increase in Water Treatment Spending When Watersheds Are Developed

July 25, 2016 — A new global study has found that one in three large cities spend 50 percent more on water treatment costs as a result of damage to the ecological quality of their ... read more

Hot Desert Storms Increase Risk of Bacterial Meningitis in Africa

July 25, 2016 — Exposure to airborne dust and high temperatures are significant risk factors for bacterial meningitis, a new study has found. The Sahel region of West Africa has the highest number of bacterial ... read more

Chemical Pollution Gets to Antarctic Marine Bird Colonies

July 21, 2016 — Latitude is the main factor which determines the organic pollutant concentration in Antarctic giant petrels – emblematic species in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions – according to a new ... read more

Dangerous Bacteria Found After Sewer Spills

July 20, 2016 — After a sewer line break, a strain of bacteria found in wastewater tested resistant to vancomycin, an antibiotic considered to be a 'last resort' treatment for serious infections that do ... read more

Modern Off-Grid Lighting Could Create 2 Million New Jobs in Developing World

July 19, 2016 — Many households in impoverished regions around the world are starting to shift away from inefficient and polluting fuel-based lighting -- such as candles, firewood, and kerosene lanterns -- to ... read more

Fracking Industry Wells Associated With Increased Risk of Asthma Attacks

July 18, 2016 — People with asthma who live near bigger or larger numbers of active unconventional natural gas wells operated by the fracking industry in Pennsylvania are 1.5 to four times likelier to have asthma ... read more

The Future of Perovskite Solar Cells Has Just Got Brighter, Come Rain or Shine

July 18, 2016 — A team of researchers has found a new method to improve not only the efficiency, but stability and humidity tolerance of perovskite solar cells. The scientists have designed a hydrophobic conducting ... read more

How Are Beaches Restored?

July 15, 2016 — Erosion and human activities challenge beach ecosystems, say researchers. A new article explains how damage to the coastline can be ... read more

Tropical Cyclones on Track to Grow More Intense as Temperatures Rise

July 14, 2016 — Powerful tropical cyclones like the super typhoon that lashed Taiwan with 150-mile-per-hour winds last week and then flooded parts of China are expected to become even stronger as the planet warms. ... read more

Traffic Noise Increases the Risk of Heart Attack

July 8, 2016 — Your risk of heart attack increases with the amount of traffic noise to which you are exposed. The increase in risk -- though slight -- is greatest with road and rail traffic noise, less with ... read more

After Decades of Clean Up Attempts, World's Lakes Still Suffer from Phosphorus Pollution

July 8, 2016 — Leading scientists warn: Phosphorus pollution is a major concern. We need to speed up recovery treatments of lakes -- or accept poor freshwater quality. In a new series of studies, leading scientists ... read more

Increase in Childhood, Adult Asthma Linked to London's 1952 Great Smog

July 8, 2016 — London's Great Smog of 1952 resulted in thousands of premature deaths and even more people becoming ill. The five December days the smog lasted may have also resulted in thousands more cases of ... read more

Friday, August 12, 2016