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Highly Polluted Air Makes Rats Heavy, Experience Cardio-Respiratory and Metabolic Dysfunctions

Laboratory rats who breathed Beijing’s highly polluted air gained weight and experienced cardio-respiratory and metabolic dysfunctions after three to eight weeks of exposure.

22 Feb 2016

Cloud Droplets Play Key Role in Atmospheric Transformation of Volatile Organic Pollutants

In addition to precipitation, clouds influence the climate in various ways: they cover 70% of the Earth's surface and represent nearly 15% of the volume of the atmosphere. Scientists need to understand their underlying chemical and physical mechanisms in order to better integrate them into climate change models.

16 Feb 2016

Study Highlights Urgent Need for More Aggressive Strategies to Reduce Air Pollution

New research shows that more than 5.5 million people die prematurely every year due to household and outdoor air pollution. More than half of deaths occur in two of the world’s fastest growing economies, China and India.

15 Feb 2016

New Findings Reveal Major Northward Expansion of Marine Mammal Exposure to Toxins

Toxins from harmful algae are present in Alaskan marine food webs in high enough concentrations to be detected in marine mammals such as whales, walruses, sea lions, seals, porpoises and sea otters, according to new research from NOAA and its federal, state, local and academic partners.

12 Feb 2016

LUT Study Reveals Impact of Global Warming on Water Quality of Himalayas

A new study by Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) on the climate change and geochemical process of waters and lake sediments on the Tibetan Plateau show that global warming affects geochemical processes such as glacier melting, soil erosion and sediments release. This deteriorates water quality of rivers and lakes, thus significantly impacting the lives of 40 percent of the world's population living in the area.

11 Feb 2016

Compounds Used in Lithium-Ion Batteries Harm Soil-Dwelling Bacteria

The growing popularity of battery-powered cars could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but they are not entirely Earth friendly. Problems can creep in when these batteries are disposed of. Scientists, in a new study in ACS’ journal Chemistry of Materials, are reporting that compounds increasingly used in lithium-ion batteries are toxic to a type of soil-dwelling bacteria that plays an important environmental role.

11 Feb 2016

WSU Biologist Finds Genetic Mechanism that Enables Fish to Live in Toxic and Acidic Water

A Washington State University biologist has found the genetic mechanism that lets a fish live in toxic, acidic water. The discovery opens new insights into the functioning of other “extremophiles” and how they adapt to their challenging environments.

10 Feb 2016

LMSU Meteorologists Find Decrease in Moscow’s Aerosol Pollution

Aerosols of the atmosphere are one of the most important factors influencing the level of radiation in the upper and lower layers of the atmosphere, and hence - the whole climate. However, the optical properties of the aerosols all over the world are not broadly studied yet.

10 Feb 2016

China Set to Lower Carbon Emission without Hindering Economic Growth

A new study co-authored by an MIT professor shows that China’s new efforts to price carbon could lower the country’s carbon dioxide emissions significantly without impeding economic development over the next three decades.

10 Feb 2016

New Catalysts Recovery Project for Sulfur Emission Reduction in Refineries

It has three self-sustained lines of research: reactivation of titanium oxide catalyst, biological treatment for sulfur disposal and evaluation of new alternative SuperClaus catalyst formulations.

9 Feb 2016