Feature Channels: Pollution

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Although stream restoration filters pollutants out of local waterways and improves the health of the Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore area neighborhoods where it would do the most for water quality are far less willing to pay for such projects, according to a new study by a University of Maryland environmental economist and an interdisciplinary team of colleagues.

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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the city of Livermore to collaborate on advancing climate action in Livermore and build community-wide resilience to climate change impacts.

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An Iowa State University research team has received a $1 million XPRIZE milestone award for its efforts to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to combat climate change. The carbon removal team at the Bioeconomy Institute will use the award to advance its vision of using pyrolysis to turn biomass from crop residues and other sources into a soil amendment and other valuable products.

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As consumers seek fewer preservatives in packaged food – while the environment needs less plastic waste – Cornell University scientists are finding ways to make active packaging materials with a biologically-derived polymer that helps salad dressings, marinades and beverages last longer in the fridge.

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Hackensack University Medical Center donates blue surgical wrap to North Bergen High School where students transform the medical grade material into magnificent fashion in honor of healthcare workers and Earth Day 2022!

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Researchers from Sandia, ORNL, and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville used neutron scattering and additional experimental techniques to study a series of materials called metal organic frameworks (MOFs) made from the entire list of rare earth elements. The researchers established a comprehensive approach to evaluating large numbers of MOFs and also made an important discovery about a defect that can be useful in building technologies to mitigate toxic gases such as nitrogen and sulfur dioxides.

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Scientists at Berkeley Lab are working on new approaches to achieve direct air capture of carbon dioxide. Andrew Haddad, a researcher in Berkeley Lab’s Energy Technologies Area with a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry, talks about how a Nobel Prize-winning chemistry concept from more than a century ago inspired his idea for efficiently capturing CO2.

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The world’s research effort into wastewater pollution caused by the textiles industry has increased threefold over the past five years, according to a new analysis released this week in the lead up to Earth Day (Friday 22 April).

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Scientists have identified a mechanism that explains how fine air pollution particles might cause lung cancer, according to a study published today in eLife.

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Increasingly large and intense wildfires in the Pacific Northwest are altering the seasonal pattern of air pollution and causing a spike in unhealthy pollutants in August, new research finds.

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Dams are conventionally regarded as emitters of GHGs in large rivers. A team from Peking University of China, however, has disrupted this perception, based on whole system thinking applied to the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) on the Yangtze River in China.

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Plastic rubbish is everywhere and now broken-down microplastics have been found in variable concentrations in blue mussels and water within the intertidal zone at some of southern Australia’s most popular and more remote beaches.

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Held monthly from February through May, the Warren M. Anderson programs feature experts who address major legal and policy issues pending before New York State government.

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Asian and Hispanic communities experience significantly more air pollution from economic activity compared to predominantly white neighborhoods across the state of California, according to new research from the University of California San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy.

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Chemists at Cornell University have discovered a way to use light and oxygen to upcycle polystyrene – a type of plastic found in many common items – into benzoic acid, a product stocked in undergraduate and high school chemistry labs and also used in fragrances, food preservatives, and other ubiquitous products.

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Experts from around the world are coming together this week to discuss the success of policies designed to tackle the global plastic pollution crisis.

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There is increasing evidence of the success of climate action, say scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.

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Even the High North can’t escape the global threat of plastic pollution.

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The third and final installment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) Sixth Assessment Report calls for aggressive and comprehensive actions if we are to achieve net zero emissions by mid-century. It finds we still need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions drastically, beyond what governments have pledged, and that this emissions gap is exacerbated by implementation gaps despite the mitigation efforts underway.

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Nighttime light pollution levels are increasing the most in the southeastern United States, Mexico, and Central America—findings based on year-round data collected over the last two decades in the Western Hemisphere.

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When cities or counties institute plastic bag bans or fees, the idea is to reduce the amount of plastic headed to the landfill. But a new analysis by a University of Georgia researcher finds these policies, while created with good intentions, may cause more plastic bags to be purchased in the communities where they are in place. The study was published earlier this year in the journal Environmental and Resource Economics.

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An article says that microplastics have been found in human blood for the first time. We rate this claim as true, although more studies are needed to determine if these substances in humans are associated with a public health risk.

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A study led by scientists at IUPUI suggests blow flies could be used to detect the use of chemical weapons -- as well as other dangerous substances -- in areas too dangerous or remote for human investigators.

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Scientists from around the world will come together to help tackle the global plastic pollution crisis at the first annual World Plastic Summit in Monaco next week.

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Scientists who helped to pioneer the use of enzymes to eat plastic have taken an important next step in developing nature-based solutions to the global plastics crisis.

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Nearly 200 nations, endorsed a historic resolution at the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi to end plastic pollution, and forge an international legally binding agreement, by the end of 2024.

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The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has enlisted the help of the University’s Global Plastics Policy Centre to inform negotiations for the possible adoption of an international agreement to tackle plastic pollution.

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Exposure to ozone from air pollution has been linked to an increase in depressive symptoms for adolescents over time, even in neighborhoods that meet air quality standards, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

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It is well known that methane, a greenhouse gas, is produced by special microorganisms, for example in the intestines of cows, or in rice fields. For some years, scientists had also observed the production of methane in plants and fungi, without finding an explanation.

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Scientists have produced a map showing where the world’s major food crops should be grown to maximise yield and minimise environmental impact.

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To have a better chance of holding global warming to 1.5°C, we need to accelerate the phase-down of HFC refrigerants under the Montreal Protocol. This could also reduce pollution and improve energy access.

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Together with Ukrainian colleagues, IIASA researchers took a novel approach to further the understanding of the planetary burden and its dynamics caused by emissions from human activity.

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Don't miss these articles in our Staff Picks channel

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As Florida and other states become more urbanized, an increasing number of stormwater ponds are built. Florida already has 76,000 such ponds. The newer ones emit more carbon than they store, a new University of Florida study finds. Researchers hope this finding will inform policy makers and others about when, where and how to install stormwater ponds.

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In the 1930s, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation drew maps of U.S. cities characterizing mortgage lending desirability, with many Black and immigrant communities receiving the worst grade. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters have found these “redlined” areas have higher air pollution levels 80 years later.

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Ordinary potted house plants can potentially make a significant contribution to reducing air pollution in homes and offices, according to new research led by the University of Birmingham and in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).