Pollution in Biological News

Noise pollution negatively affects woodland bird communities, says CU-Boulder study

A new University of Colorado at Boulder study shows the strongest evidence yet that noise pollution negatively influences bird populations, findings with implications for the fate of ecological communities situated amid growing urban clamor. The study also is the first to indicate that at least...

LSUHSC shows for first time infant inhalation of ultrafine air pollution linked to adult lung disease

New Orleans, LA Stephania Cormier, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has shown for the first time that early exposure to environmentally persistent free radicals (present in airborne ultrafine particulate matter) affects long-term lung function. S...

Athletes, spectators faced unprecedented air pollution at 2008 Olympic Games

CORVALLIS, Ore. Particulate air pollution during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing constantly exceeded levels considered excessive by the World Health Organization, was far worse than other recent Olympic Games, and was about 30 percent higher than has been reported by Chinese environmental exper...

Searching for pollution in the Caribbean

The hot Caribbean sun bore down on a Honduran naval boat as it criss-crossed the waters of Puerto Cortes, Honduras main port and one of Central Americas most important seaports. Aboard the vessel, Miguel Gomez Batista, a young radioecologist from Cuba, stared out at the distant horizon with som...

Inhaling a heart attack: How air pollution can cause heart disease

BETHESDA, Md. (March 23, 2009) We are used to thinking of heart disease as a product of genetic factors or lifestyle choices, such as what we eat and how much we exercise. There is another road to heart disease: breathing. Accumulating evidence indicates that an increase in particulate air poll...

Commercial ships spew half as much particulate pollution as world's cars

Globally, commercial ships emit almost half as much particulate pollution into the air as the total amount released by cars, according to a new study. Ship pollutants affect both the Earth's climate and the health of people living along coastlines. The study is the first to provide a global es...

Nutrient pollution chokes marine and freshwater ecosystems

MILLBROOK ―February 19, 2009 ― Protecting drinking water and preventing harmful coastal "dead zones", as well as eutrophication in many lakes, will require reducing both nitrogen and phosphorus pollution. Because streams and rivers are conduits to the sea, management strategies should ...

Indoor air pollution increases asthma symptoms

A study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University found an association between increasing levels of indoor particulate matter pollution and the severity of asthma symptoms among children. The study, which followed a group of asthmatic children in Baltimore, Md., is among the first to examine ...

Study links water pollution with declining male fertility

New research strengthens the link between water pollution and rising male fertility problems. The study, by Brunel University, the Universities of Exeter and Reading and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, shows for the first time how a group of testosterone-blocking chemicals is finding its way i...

New satellite data reveal impact of Olympic pollution controls

Chinese government regulators had clearer skies and easier breathing in mind in the summer of 2008 when they temporarily shuttered some factories and banished many cars in a pre-Olympic sprint to clean up Beijing's air. And that's what they got. They were not necessarily planning for something...

Surface-level ozone pollution set to reduce tree growth 10 percent by 2100

Modern day concentrations of ground level ozone pollution are decreasing the growth of trees in the northern and temperate mid-latitudes, as shown in a paper publishing today in Global Change Biology . Tree growth, measured in biomass, is already 7% less than the late 1800s, and this is set to i...

Light pollution offers new global measure of coral reef health

We've all seen the satellite images of Earth at night--the bright blobs and shining webs that tell the story of humanity's endless sprawl. These pictures are no longer just symbols of human impact, however, but can be used to objectively measure it, according to a study in the December 2008 iss...

K-State research: Freshwater pollution costs US at least $4.3 billion a year

MANHATTAN -- Pollution by phosphorous and nitrogen isn't just bad for lakes, streams and other bodies of fresh water. According to researchers at Kansas State University, it's also bad for Americans' pocketbooks. Freshwater pollution impacts individuals on a level as basic as how much they spen...

Mercury pollution causes immune damage to harbor seals

Methylmercury (MeHg), the predominant form of mercury found in the blood of marine mammals and fish-eating communities, could be more damaging to seals than has previously been thought. Research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health shows that MeHg harms T-lympho...

Wildfires cause ozone pollution to violate health standards, new study shows

BOULDER--Wildfires can boost ozone pollution to levels that violate U.S. health standards, a new study concludes. The research, by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), focused on California wildfires in 2007, finding that they repeatedly caused ground-level ozone to s...

Lichens function as indicators of nitrogen pollution in forests

Scientists have found lichens can give insight into nitrogen air pollution effects on Sierra Nevada and San Bernardino mountain ecosystems, and protecting them provides safeguards for less sensitive species. Their findings are presented this month in the international journal Environmental Poll...

'Chemical equator' discovery will aid pollution mapping

Scientists at the University of York have discovered a 'Chemical Equator' that divides the polluted air of the Northern Hemisphere from the largely uncontaminated atmosphere of the Southern Hemisphere. Researchers from the University's Department of Chemistry found evidence for an atmospheric c...

Greenland ice core reveals history of pollution in the Arctic

New research, reported this week in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that coal burning, primarily in North America and Europe, contaminated the Arctic and potentially affected human health and ecosystems in and around Earth's polar regions. ...

Many US public schools in 'air pollution danger zone'

CINCINNATIOne in three U.S. public schools are in the "air pollution danger zone," according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC). UC researchers have found that more than 30 percent of American public schools are within 400 meters, or a quarter mile, of major highways that c...

Scientists to assess Beijing Olympics air pollution control efforts

As the Summer Olympics in Beijing kicks off this week, the event is giving scientists a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to observe how the atmosphere responds when a heavily populated region substantially curbs everyday industrial emissions. The National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded "Cheju AB...

Scripps scientists will assess Beijing Olympics air pollution control efforts

As the Summer Olympics in Beijing kicks off today, the event is affording scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to observe how the atmosphere responds when a heavily populated region substantially curbs everyday industrial emissions. T...

GKSS membranes reduce air pollution in Beijing

Measures for better air Now that Olympia is approaching, the Chinese authorities are trying to reduce the air pollution in the large cities with different measures. For example, the car traffic in Beijing is massively limited: the government has ordered not to use 70 percent of all company cars...

Study reveals air pollution is causing widespread and serious impacts to ecosystems

If you are living in the eastern United States, the environment around you is being harmed by air pollution. From Adirondack forests and Shenandoah streams to Appalachian wetlands and the Chesapeake Bay, a new report by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and The Nature Conservancy has found t...

Even low levels of air pollution may pose stroke risk

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Short-term exposure to low levels of particulate air pollution may increase the risk of stroke or mini-stroke, according to findings that suggest current exposure standards could be insufficient to protect the public. "The vast majority of the public is exposed to ambient ai...

New study links fate of personal care products to environmental pollution and human health concerns

Parental concerns in maintaining germ-free homes for their children have led to an ever-increasing demand and the rapid adoption of anti-bacterial soaps and cleaning agents. But the active ingredients of those antiseptic soaps now have come under scrutiny by the EPA and FDA, due to both environmen...

UMCES-led research team quantifies nutrient pollution reductions from urban stream restoration

A team of researchers led by University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science researcher Dr. Sujay Kaushal has been among the first able to quantify the amount of excess nitrogen removed from an urban stream during environmental restoration projects. This breakthrough will allow environment...

Black carbon pollution emerges as major player in global warming

Black carbon, a form of particulate air pollution most often produced from biomass burning, cooking with solid fuels and diesel exhaust, has a warming effect in the atmosphere three to four times greater than prevailing estimates, according to scientists in an upcoming review article in the journa...

NASA satellite measures pollution from east Asia to North America

In a new NASA study, researchers taking advantage of improvements in satellite sensor capabilities offer the first measurement-based estimate of the amount of pollution from East Asian forest fires, urban exhaust, and industrial production that makes its way to western North America. China, the...

Increasing nitrogen pollution overwhelms filtering capability of streams

MBL, WOODS HOLE, MAIncreasing nitrogen runoff from urban and agriculture land-use is interfering with our streams and rivers natural processes for reducing this pollutant before it endangers delicate downstream ecosystems, reports a nationwide team of 31 ecologists, including two from the MBL (Mar...

New research offers prioritization plan for reducing nutrient pollution in feeder streams

To help resource managers improve the health of coastal waters degraded by nutrient pollution, a group of scientists has developed a framework for prioritizing stream restoration efforts aimed at reducing the amount of nitrogen flowing downstream. The framework, published in the online version of ...

Nitrogen pollution boosts plant growth in tropics by 20 percent

Irvine, Calif., Feb. 6, 2008 A study by UC Irvine ecologists finds that excess nitrogen in tropical forests boosts plant growth by an average of 20 percent, countering the belief that such forests would not respond to nitrogen pollution. Faster plant growth means the tropics will take in more ...

NASA data link pollution to rainy summer days in the southeast

WASHINGTON - Rainfall data from a NASA satellite show that summertime storms in the southeastern United States shed more rainfall midweek than on weekends. Scientists say air pollution from humans is likely driving that trend. The link between rainfall and the day of the week is evident in dat...

Fighting pollution the poplar way: Trees to clean up Indiana site

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University researchers are collaborating with Chrysler LLC in a project to use poplar trees to eliminate pollutants from a contaminated site in north-central Indiana. The researchers plan to plant transgenic poplars at the site, a former oil storage facility near K...

ASU researchers use NASA satellites to improve pollution modeling

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Detecting pollution, like catching criminals, requires evidence and witnesses; but on the scale of countries, continents and oceans, having enough detectors is easier said than done. A team of air quality modelers, climatologists and air policy specialists at Arizona State Univ...

Time spent in car drives up air pollution exposure

Los Angeles, Oct. 30, 2007 The daily commute may be taking more of a toll than people realize. A new study by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) and the California Air Resources Board found that up to half of Los Angeles residents total exposure to harmful air pollutants oc...

RIT to study air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the Great Lakes region

Reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the Great Lakes region due to freight transportation requires a little creativity and a serious look at sustainabilityways of protecting the environment without slowing the economy. A team of professors at Rochester Institute of Technology rec...

Nutrient pollution drives frog deformities by ramping up infections, says CU-Boulder study

High levels of nutrients used in farming and ranching activities fuel parasite infections that have caused highly publicized frog deformities in ponds and lakes across North America, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder. The study showed increased levels of nitr...

Groundbreaking Canada-US study proves link between emissions and mercury pollution in fish

A groundbreaking environmental study to be published in a prestigious American science journal proves that mercury atmospheric emissions will end up in fish in as little as three years. Biologists from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, played a key role in designing and carrying out t...

Groundbreaking Canada-US study proves link between emissions and mercury pollution in fish

A groundbreaking environmental study to be published in a prestigious American science journal proves that mercury atmospheric emissions will end up in fish in as little as three years. Biologists from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, played a key role in designing and carrying out t...

e-Science points to pollution solutions

Results from a UK e-Science project are helping to solve two pressing environmental problems. One finding could help to avoid arsenic contamination of drinking water extracted from man-made wells. Another could lead to improved methods of removing the now-banned industrial chemical, dioxin, from s...