Posts Tagged pollution

Fossil Fuel Industries Identified As The Main Source of Methane

Posted by Mila Luleva in Pollution on May 17, 2013

A study recently published in the journal Atmospheric Environment, reported an increase in methane concentrations alongside major southern US roads and highways. Researchers from University of California, Santa Barbara, conducted an extensive sampling of atmospheric methane concentrations along transects from the Southwest and moving towards Huston. The scientists used a gas chromatograph to measure methane, since [...]

Air Quality Directive Strengthened by Scientists

Posted by Mila Luleva in Pollution on May 16, 2013

In anticipation of the Green Week 2013, which will take place in Brussels between the 4th and 7th of June, scientists and stakeholders gathered earlier this week to discuss ways to expand research and strengthen the Air Quality Directive. The event entitled „Frontline Research for Improved Air Quality and Climate Action” was initiated by the the Leibniz [...]

Technique for Waste Water Phosphorous Removal Improved

Posted by Mila Luleva in Pollution on May 9, 2013

Research coming from the Urban Water Technologies Stream of CSIRO’s Water for a Healthy Country Flagship created a new approach to remove phosphorus from waste water and limit algal blooms. Phosphorus is one of the most commonly found constituents of commercial fertilizers. Concentrations of the element in waste waters increase mainly due to agricultural run off. [...]

Coal Mining Pollution Neglected by The Environmental Protection Agency

Posted by Mila Luleva in Pollution on May 3, 2013

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced earlier this week, that they will not take any action against coal mining pollution. The reasoning for EPA’s inactions is that the agency has “other priorities”. It is somehow difficult to comprehend how such agency, which is responsible for protecting the environment from deadly pollutants, harmful to human health, [...]

Truth About BP’s Oil Spill in The Gulf of Mexico Uncovered

Posted by Mila Luleva in Pollution on May 1, 2013

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 is known as the largest unintentional environmental disaster in history, with around 210 million gallons of Louisiana sweet crude spilled in the Gulf. It took nearly 3 months to clean, with thousands of workers being involved. Although the media followed closely each step of [...]

California Ranked as Most Polluted State

Posted by Mila Luleva in Pollution on April 26, 2013

The American Lung Association ranked Los Angeles as the U.S. city with the highest levels of ozone pollution, the worst smog and the heaviest traffic. The annual report on national air quality released earlier this week placed the farming town of Bakersfield, California at first place for particulate pollution. The American Lung Association estimated that [...]

Living Near Car Traffic Leads to Heart Disease, Study Finds

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Pollution on April 21, 2013

Fumes from gas-powered cars (diesels, mostly) can harm your health seriously if you live near high-trafficked roads. Fine particle matter (PM) emitted by ICE engines enter your lungs and access even the deepest parts of them, as they’re just 1/100 of a human hair in width (2.5 micrometers). David Rich, ScD, associate professor of public [...]

Deadly Pollution Levels Plague Hong Kong

Posted by Leigh Kim in Pollution on April 16, 2013

On Monday in Hong Kong, children, the elderly, and people with respiratory illnesses and heart conditions were advised to stay inside because air pollution index readings were at their highest this year. In Beijing on Monday, the pollution index reached as high as 167, considered a very unhealthy level of pollution according to the US [...]

Sea Level Rise Reduced by Cutting Short-Lived Climate Pollutants

Posted by Mila Luleva in Climate Change on April 15, 2013

New research published in the journal Nature Climate Change, shows that cutting down short-lived climate pollutants, such as methane and soot, could greatly reduce the rate of sea level rise. The study led by Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, estimates that 30 to 60% reduction in emissions of these pollutants by [...]

Los Angeles Imposes New Regulations to Combat Coastal Pollution

Posted by Mila Luleva in Pollution on April 8, 2013

An initiative by local officials in Los Angeles, has an aim to reduce runoff pollution after rainfall events, while solving the problem with depleting resources of drinking water in the region. Water pollution due to runoff has been one of the major problems in the L.A. area. Various pesticides, heavy metals, animal waste and many other polluting [...]

Samoa Air Charges Passengers by Weight, Reduces Fuel Consumption

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Green News on April 6, 2013

One way of not going bankrupt is to cut expenses. The other way is to see things differently and attract more customers. Samoa Air has chosen the second way of doing things by charging airplane passengers based on their weight – the fatter you are, the more you pay – and it seems fair enough [...]

More Than Half of US Rivers Found Unsuitable For Aquatic Life

Posted by Mila Luleva in Pollution on April 3, 2013

The US Environmental Protection Agency conducted a survey on quality of US rivers, indicating that majority of streams and rivers in the country are in “poor condition” for their inhabitants due to high levels of contamination and physical disturbances. Hydrologists from the agency collected samples from around 2000 sites over the period between 2008 and 2009. They [...]

European Carbon Emissions Dropped in 2012

Posted by Mila Luleva in Pollution on April 2, 2013

The European Union (EU) announced a drop of 1,4 percent in carbon emissions from factories included in the EU carbon market. This is the second year in a row for the EU to report reduction in carbon emissions, leading the way to reaching the EU emission target for 2020. Although earlier predictions indicated that there [...]

Technology to Clean Oceans of Plastic Debris Developed by Student

Posted by Mike Sandru in Pollution on March 26, 2013

Boyan Slat, a 19-year-old Aerospace Engineering student at TU Delft designed a device that could clean the ocean from plastic trash. The concept called Ocean Cleanup Array, combines long floating booms with processing platforms,which can collect and separate trash. Plastics are one of the main ocean pollutants, adding tones of harmful chemicals every year and [...]

New Method Monitors Urban Pollution at Specific Time and Location

Posted by Mila Luleva in Pollution on March 26, 2013

Urban pollution caused by nitrogen oxides can now be predicted for specific locations at particular hours, thanks to recent study done by scientists at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM). The researchers developed a geostatistical method that takes into account the space-time factor, something that had not been considered before. The method, called functional krigging, [...]