Most polluted cities and countries in the world, according to IQAir

Most polluted cities and countries in the world, according to IQAir

Commuters make their way along a street amid smoggy and foggy conditions early in the morning in Lahore on January 3, 2023. Arif Ali | AFP | Getty Images About 90% of the global population in 2022 experienced unhealthy air quality, and only six countries met the World Health Organization’s recommendations of safe air pollutant … Read more

San Francisco becomes latest Democratic city to crack down on gas appliances

San Francisco becomes latest Democratic city to crack down on gas appliances

San Francisco regulators moved forward with regulations banning future sales of certain natural gas-powered appliances as part of the Democrat-led city’s climate agenda. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which oversees air pollution and emissions regulations for the nine counties surrounding San Francisco, greenlighted amendments to regulations Wednesday evening related to eliminating nitrogen oxide emissions from … Read more

Rsearchers examine combined effects of two combustion technologies on the emission of coal-fired boilers

Rsearchers examine combined effects of two combustion technologies on the emission of coal-fired boilers

There is currently a large dependence on coal for power generation. As coal-fired plants cause environmental and health hazards, technologies such as swirl flow and air staging have been proposed to mitigate the pollutants in their emissions. However, it is unclear how effective these technologies are in reducing the environmental costs of these plants. Now, … Read more

Take the findings with a pinch of salt, says expert

Many developing countries, unlike India, do not have proper air monitoring systems; if they did, India’s ranking would be better Delhi’s iconic Red Fort enveloped in smog. Photo: iStock The findings of a recent report by Swiss technology company IQAir, which said 39 of the world’s top 50 most polluted cities were in India, must … Read more

Propeller advance paves way for quiet, efficient electric aviation

Propeller advance paves way for quiet, efficient electric aviation

Electrification is seen as having an important role to play in the fossil-free aviation of tomorrow. But electric aviation is battling a trade-off dilemma: the more energy-efficient an electric aircraft is, the noisier it gets. Now, researchers have developed a propeller design optimization method that paves the way for quiet, efficient electric aviation. Source link

Air pollution impairs successful mating of flies

Air pollution impairs successful mating of flies

A research team demonstrates that increased levels of ozone resulting from anthropogenic air pollution can degrade insect sex pheromones, which are crucial mating signals, and thus prevent successful reproduction. The oxidizing effect of ozone causes the carbon-carbon double bonds found in the molecules of many insect pheromones to break down. Therefore, the specific chemical mating … Read more

New model provides improved air-quality predictions in fire-prone areas

New model provides improved air-quality predictions in fire-prone areas

Globally, wildfires are becoming more frequent and destructive, generating a significant amount of smoke that can be transported thousands of miles, driving the need for more accurate air pollution forecasts. Researchers have now developed a deep learning model that provides improved predictions of air quality in wildfire-prone areas and can differentiate between wildfires and non-wildfires. … Read more

Cleaning up the atmosphere with quantum computing

Cleaning up the atmosphere with quantum computing

Practical carbon capture technologies are still in the early stages of development, with the most promising involving a class of compounds called amines that can chemically bind with carbon dioxide. Researchers now deploy an algorithm to study amine reactions through quantum computing. An existing quantum computer cab run the algorithm to find useful amine compounds … Read more

Assessing the potential risks of ocean-based climate intervention technologies on deep-sea ecosystems

Assessing the potential risks of ocean-based climate intervention technologies on deep-sea ecosystems

An international team of experts convened remotely as part of the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative’s Climate Working Group to consider the deep-sea impacts of ocean-based climate intervention (OBCI). A research team has analyzed the proposed approaches to assess their potential impacts on deep-sea ecosystems and biodiversity. Their findings raise substantial concern on the potential impacts … Read more

The world's atmospheric rivers now have an intensity ranking like hurricanes

The world's atmospheric rivers now have an intensity ranking like hurricanes

Atmospheric rivers, which are long, narrow bands of water vapor, are becoming more intense and frequent with climate change. A new study demonstrates that a recently developed scale for atmospheric river intensity (akin to the hurricane scale) can be used to rank atmospheric rivers and identify hotspots of the most intense atmospheric rivers not only … Read more