Over 80% of premature deaths caused by small smoke particles in the United States result directly from human-ignited fires. This is the outcome of a study published today in IOP Publishing’s journal Environmental Research Letters. The new study, led by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, analyses the impact of smoke particles on air … Read more
Clean energy is the leading solution for climate change. But solar and wind power are inconsistent at producing enough energy for a reliable power grid. Alternatively, lithium-ion batteries can store energy but are a limited resource. “The advantage of a coal power plant is it’s very steady,” said Nian Liu, an assistant professor at the … Read more
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. Now, city planners and government health officials can obtain a more precise accounting about … Read more
It may seem like the Biden administration’s Consumer Product Safety Commission suddenly decided to come out and float the idea of a national gas-stove ban, igniting a firestorm of backlash and making it the hot topic of the week. But this has been a cause of the far-left Green New Deal and simmering on the back … Read more
It’s the worst memory of Kevin Burton’s life. As a teenager in suburban Baltimore 30 years ago — packing the car for a family trip — Burton heard his younger sister screaming from the basement. He raced downstairs. Inside the dryer was Tyson, the family cat — hot, shaking, bloody. Mr. Burton scooped up the … Read more
From tiny plankton to massive whales, microplastics have been found throughout the ocean food chain. One major source of this pollution are fibers shed while laundering synthetic fabrics. Although many studies show microfibers are released during machine washing, it’s been less clear how hand washing contributes. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Environmental Science & Technology … Read more
The warming during the summer months in Europe has been much faster than the global average, shows a new study by researchers at Stockholm University published in the Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres. As a consequence of human emissions of greenhouse gases, the climate across the continent has also become drier, particularly in southern Europe, … Read more
The waters of the North Atlantic gyre contain significantly greater quantities of plastic — composed of polymers arising from packaging, rope, and paint particles — than other areas of the open ocean, according to new research. One of the planet’s five great oceanic gyres, humanmade marine debris becomes trapped in a circular ocean current that … Read more
Dust particles from central South America were the most important source of iron in the South Pacific during the last two ice ages. Researchers led by Oldenburg geochemist Torben Struve report their findings in the journal PNAS. Dust from the dry Puna Plateau in northwestern Argentina was an important source of iron for the nutrient-deficient … Read more
Every year, the cross-shelf transport of carbon-rich particles from the Barents and Kara Seas could bind up to 3.6 million metric tons of CO2 in the Arctic deep sea for millennia. In this region alone, a previously unknown transport route uses the biological carbon pump and ocean currents to absorb atmospheric CO2 on the scale … Read more