Residents Could Be Exposed to Cancer-Causing Substances in Wake of Train Explosion
New York Institute of Technology, New York Tech
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed an affordable add-on acid gas reduction technology that removes 99.9% of acidic gases and other emissions to produce an ultraclean natural gas furnace. The AGR technology can also be added to other natural gas-driven equipment.
A 'national conversation' is needed to combat the worrying levels of air pollution in some city-based classrooms, say researchers from the University of Surrey.
Climate change is a global environmental concern. A major contribution to climate change comes from excessive burning of fossil fuels.
Over 44 million people in the United States depend on private drinking water wells that are not federally regulated. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire and collaborating institutions found that current monitoring practices do not accurately reflect groundwater pollution risks because spikes in harmful bacteria, like those from animal and human waste, vary depending on the season—with highest levels observed from testing conducted in summer months when temperatures are over 90°F.
A study of adolescents aged 11-16 in London has found long-term exposure to PM2.5 is associated with higher blood pressure, with stronger associations seen in girls.
Declining water levels of Great Salt Lake threaten economic activity, local public health, and ecosystems. In response to this emergent statewide challenge, Utah’s research universities formed the Great Salt Lake Strike Team, a collaboration of experts in public policy, hydrology, water management, climatology, and dust. Today they released a Great Salt Lake Policy Assessment that affirms the situation is urgent, but also identifies a variety of policy levers that can return the lake to healthy levels.
The University of Miami is welcoming leaders from institutions across the nation this week at the Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit to share ideas on combating the climate crisis.
The world generates about 300 million tons of plastic waste annually, and more than 90% of all plastic ever made has never been recycled. Part of what drives all that waste into landfills or into the environment is the difficulty of recycling plastic, which is designed to last for a very long time. Traditional plastic recycling suffers from a fundamental flaw, said Marcus Foston: there’s no financial incentive for companies to do it.
The UK’s laundry releases microfibres weighing the equivalent of up to 1,500 double-decker buses in microfibres every year, according to new research.
With its high-carbon footprint, air travel challenges the goal set by many countries of stabilizing global mean temperature by the middle of the 21st century. The aviation sector could achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 through a combination of technology and a change in habits, but it’s not going to be easy, according to Earth system scientists at the University of California, Irvine.
Scientists at the University of Portsmouth are to develop ‘plastic-eating’ enzymes that could help solve the ever-growing problem of waste polyester clothing.
Humans continue to amplify global warming by emitting billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year.
Replacing traditional biomass-burning cookstoves across sub-Saharan Africa could save more than 463,000 lives and US $66 billion in health costs annually, according to a new analysis of the most socially optimal cooking technologies in Africa.
If you live near a busy road, it may increase your stress levels and affect your sleep. When we are under stress and sleep poorly, we may be at a higher risk of developing tinnitus.
Human actions are changing the environment at an unprecedented rate. Plant and animal populations must try to keep up with these human-accelerated changes, often by trying to rapidly evolve tolerance to changing conditions.
While microplastics have received significant attention in recent years for their negative environmental impacts, a new study from Oregon State University scientists found microfibers from synthetic materials as well as cotton impacted the behavior and growth of water organisms.
Iowa State's Xianglan Bai is leading two, $2-million-plus projects that will study and develop new ways to break down waste plastics and convert them to useful materials. The U.S. Department of Energy is supporting both projects.
Small isolated wetlands that are full for only part of the year are often the first to be removed for development or agriculture, but a new study shows that they can be twice as effective in protecting downstream lake or river ecosystems than if they were connected to them.
New UC Riverside research suggests nitrogen released by gas-powered machines causes dry soil to let go of carbon and release it back into the atmosphere, where it can contribute to climate change.
China’s stricter clean heating policies have improved air quality in northern China, particularly in Beijing and surrounding cities– potentially reducing 23,000 premature deaths due to air pollution in 2021 than in 2015, a new study reveals.
A Missouri University of Science and Technology research group was recently awarded a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that is aimed at preventing pollution in the mining industry.
Coastal city residents would like to do more to reduce their single-use plastic waste and they are trying to recycle more, even trying to recycle items that simply can’t be recycled, often called “wish-cycling”.
A new study finds that proximity to electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs) can raise property values depending on where homes are situated. The study, conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Rhode Island, the University of Maryland College Park, Princeton University and Cardiff University, was recently published in Nature Sustainability.
A Ross School of Business startup that helped accelerate the removal of dangerous lead pipes in Flint and many other communities has joined a White House partnership aimed at replacing all of the nation’s lead service lines in a decade.
Computational chemists reduce or eliminate hazardous materials by running simulations to develop fast, accurate models. MIT researchers use SDSC's supercomputer to explore the luminescent properties of iridium-centered phosphors.
The Amazon rainforest has been degraded by a much greater extent than scientists previously believed with more than a third of remaining forest affected by humans, according to a new study published on January 27 in the journal Science.
China is a night-time ‘hot-spot’ for the production of nitrate radicals (PNO3) that could have a major impact on health-threatening ozone and fine particulates (PM2.5) in the atmosphere, a new study reveals.
Toddlers whose moms were exposed to higher levels of air pollution during mid- to late-pregnancy tend to score lower on measures of cognition, motor coordination and language skills, according to new University of Colorado Boulder research.
A new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria has shown that common levels of traffic pollution can impair human brain function in only a matter of hours.
A University of Delaware researcher is leading a multi-institutional team exploring ways to engineer microbes from the gut of the yellow mealworm to degrade non-recyclable plastics. The work is supported with funding from the Department of Energy.
New research led by University of Nevada, Reno Assistant Professor Joanna Blaszczak shows hypoxia in rivers and streams is generally much more prevalent across the globe than previously thought.
Millions of New Yorkers live in “transit deserts” – areas in which public transportation is not easily accessed – but a major grant from New York State means Dollaride, in collaboration with Tandon’s C2SMART Center (the Connected Cities for Smart Mobility Toward Accessible and Resilient Transportation), will help fill that gap with environmentally-friendly electric vehicles.
Microplastics—tiny particles generated as plastics weather and fragment—pose a growing threat to ecosystem and human health. A new laboratory study shows these threats extend beyond direct physical or chemical impacts, revealing that the presence of microplastics increases the severity of an important viral fish disease.
The bacterium Rhodococcus ruber eats and actually digests plastic. This has been shown in laboratory experiments by PhD student Maaike Goudriaan at Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ).
A University of Michigan pulmonologist discusses the risks and offers tips for protecting your health in your home
A startling analysis from Globe at Night — a citizen science program run by NSF’s NOIRLab — concludes that stars are disappearing from human sight at an astonishing rate. The study finds that, to human eyes, artificial lighting has dulled the night sky more rapidly than indicated by satellite measurements. The study published in the journal Science showcases the unique contributions that citizen scientists can make in essential fields of research.
A new study analyzes what fair and equitable burden-sharing means for nature-based carbon dioxide removal in developing countries.
Research on fungi underway at the University of Kansas has helped transform tough-to-recycle plastic waste from the Pacific Ocean into key components for making pharmaceuticals.
A new study by Environmental Working Group scientists finds that consumption of just a single serving of freshwater fish per year could be equal to a month of drinking water laced with the “forever chemical” PFOS at high levels that may be harmful.
Over 80% of premature deaths caused by small smoke particles in the United States result directly from human-ignited fires.
Tackling nutrient pollution in the Gulf of Mexico is a big job, requiring coordination between dozens of states whose waters flow into the Mississippi.
In the future, the energy needed to run the powerful computers on board a global fleet of autonomous vehicles could generate as many greenhouse gas emissions as all the data centers in the world today.
Using artificial intelligence, Cornell University engineers have simplified and reinforced models that accurately calculate the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) – the soot, dust and exhaust emitted by trucks and cars that get into human lungs – contained in urban air pollution.
Below are some of the latest articles that have been added to the Space and Astronomy channel on Newswise, a free source for journalists.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), a federal agency, is not currently considering a ban on gas stoves. Therefore the claim that the government is banning gas stoves or that they plan on seizing people’s stoves is false.
About a quarter of the world’s electricity currently comes from power plants fired by natural gas. These contribute significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions (amounting to 10% of energy-related emissions according to the most recent figures from 2017) and climate change.