NOTICIAS RECIENTES SOBRE CALIDAD DEL AIRE
Air pollution linked to dementia and cardiovascular disease
People continuously exposed to air pollution are at increased risk of dementia, especially if they also suffer from cardiovascular diseases, according to a new study. Therefore, patients with cardiovascular diseases who live in polluted environments may require additional support from care providers to prevent dementia, according to the researchers.
30.Mar.2020
Extreme, high temperatures may double or triple heart-related deaths
In Kuwait, a country known for hot weather, death certificates reveal that on days when the temperatures reached extremes of an average daily temperature of 109 degrees Fahrenheit, the number of deaths from cardiovascular disease dramatically increased. With unprecedentedly high temperatures, people living in inherently hot regions of the world may be at particularly high risk of heat-related cardiovascular death.
30.Mar.2020
Seafloor of Fram Strait is a sink for microplastic from Arctic and North Atlantic Ocean
Working in the Arctic Fram Strait, scientists have found microplastic throughout the water column with particularly high concentrations at the ocean floor.
27.Mar.2020
Scientists predict the size of plastics animals can eat
A team of scientists has, for the first time, developed a way of predicting the size of plastics different animals are likely to ingest.
27.Mar.2020
Control of anthropogenic atmospheric emissions can improve water quality in seas
A new research highlighted the importance of reducing fossil fuel combustion not only to curb the trend of global warming, but also to improve the quality of China's coastal waters.
27.Mar.2020
Longer lives not dependent on increased energy use
Growing consumption of energy and fossil fuels over four decades did not play a significant role in increasing life expectancy across 70 countries. New research has quantified the importance of different development factors to improvements in physical health on an international scale.
26.Mar.2020
How stable is deep ocean circulation in warmer climate?
If circulation of deep waters in the Atlantic stops or slows due to climate change, it could cause cooling in northern North America and Europe - a scenario that has occurred during past cold glacial periods. Now, a new study suggests that short-term disruptions of deep ocean circulation occurred during warm interglacial periods in the last 450,000 years, and may happen again.
26.Mar.2020
Under extreme heat and drought, trees hardly benefit from an increased CO2 level
The increase in the CO2 concentration of the atmosphere does not compensate the negative effect of greenhouse gas-induced climate change on trees: The more extreme drought and heat become, the less do trees profit from the increased supply with carbon dioxide in terms of carbon metabolism and water use efficiency. This finding was obtained by researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) when studying Aleppo pines. Their study is reported in New Phytologist (DOI: 10.1111/nph.16471).
26.Mar.2020
International ozone treaty stops changes in Southern Hemisphere winds
The Montreal Protocol of 1987 phased out production of ozone-destroying substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Beginning around 2000, concentrations of those chemicals in the stratosphere started to decline and the ozone hole began to recover. In this study, researchers have shown that around the year 2000, the circulation of the Southern Hemisphere also stopped expanding polewards -- a pause or slight reversal of the earlier trends.
25.Mar.2020
Burying or burning garbage boosts airborne bacteria, antibiotic resistance genes
Municipal solid waste is trash -- such as plastic, food scraps and lawn clippings -- that goes into garbage bins and doesn't get recycled. Most of this waste is buried in landfills or is incinerated. Now, researchers have shown that when disposed of in this way, municipal solid waste can be an important source of antibiotic-resistance genes in the air.
25.Mar.2020
Ships' emissions create measurable regional change in clouds
Years of cloud data over a shipping route between Europe and South Africa shows that pollution from ships has significantly increased the reflectivity of the clouds. More generally, the results suggest that industrial pollution's effect on clouds has masked about a third of the warming due to fossil fuel burning since the late 1800s.
24.Mar.2020
New 3D view of methane tracks sources
NASA's new 3-dimensional portrait of methane concentrations shows the world's second largest contributor to greenhouse warming.
23.Mar.2020
Concrete solutions that lower both emissions and air pollution
Some common strategies to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of concrete production could have unintended consequences for local air pollution and related health damages, according to a new study.
23.Mar.2020
Coal exit benefits outweigh its costs
Coal combustion is not only the single most important source of CO2 -- accounting for more than a third of global emissions, but also a major contributor to detrimental effects on public health and biodiversity. Yet, globally phasing out coal remains one of the hardest political nuts to crack.
23.Mar.2020
Electric cars better for climate in 95% of the world
Fears that electric cars could actually increase carbon emissions are unfounded in almost all parts of the world, new research shows.
23.Mar.2020
Nature-inspired green energy technology clears important development hurdle
A new material design has put the long-sought idea of using artificial photosynthesis to generate renewable fuel within reach.
19.Mar.2020
Noises from human activity may threaten New England's freshwater soundscape
Sounds produced by human activities -- anthropogenic sounds -- account for more than 90% of the underwater soundscape in major freshwater habitats of New England.
18.Mar.2020
Increasingly mobile sea ice risks polluting Arctic neighbors
The movement of sea ice between Arctic countries is expected to significantly increase this century, raising the risk of more widely transporting pollutants like microplastics and oil, according to new research.
18.Mar.2020
Sugar brings a lot of carbon dioxide into the deeper sea
The oceans are a very important reservoir for carbon in the system of the earth. However, many aspects of the marine carbon cycle are still unknown. Scientists have now found that sugar plays an important role in this process. At the same time, the sweet energy source is important for the ecosystem of the oceans.
18.Mar.2020
Fish scales could make wearable electronics more sustainable
Flexible temporary electronic displays may one day make it possible to sport a glowing tattoo or check a reading, like that of a stopwatch, directly on the skin. In its current form, however, this technology generally depends on plastic. New research describes a way to make these displays, which would likely be discarded after a single use, more environmentally friendly using a plentiful and biodegradable resource: fish scales.
18.Mar.2020
Emissions of several ozone-depleting chemicals are larger than expected
Researchers have found that much of the current emission of these gases likely stems from large CFC 'banks' -- old equipment such as building insulation foam, refrigerators and cooling systems, and foam insulation, that was manufactured before the global phaseout of CFCs and is still leaking the gases into the atmosphere. Based on earlier analyses, scientists concluded that CFC banks would be too small to contribute very much to ozone depletion, and so policymakers allowed the banks to remain.
17.Mar.2020
How horses can save the permafrost
Permafrost soils in the Arctic are thawing. In Russia, experiments are now being conducted in which herds of horses, bison and reindeer are being used to combat this effect. A study shows for the first time that this method could significantly slow the loss of permafrost soils. Theoretically speaking, 80 percent of all permafrost soils around the globe could be preserved until the year 2100.
17.Mar.2020
Microplastic fibers linked to respiratory, reproductive changes in fish
Chronic exposure to microplastic fibers causes aneurysms, erosion of surface layers and other serious damage to fish gills, and increases egg production in female fish, a sign that chemicals in the fibers may be acting as endocrine disruptors, a new study finds.
16.Mar.2020
Sensory danger zones: How sensory pollution impacts animal survival
A new article presents a framework for understanding how light and noise pollution affects wildlife.
16.Mar.2020
Plastic building bricks could survive in ocean for up to 1,300 years, study suggests
By measuring the mass of individual bricks found on beaches against equivalent unused pieces and the age of blocks obtained from storage, researchers estimated that the items could endure for anywhere between 100 and 1,300 years.
16.Mar.2020
First-time direct proof of chemical reactions in particulates
Researchers have developed a new method to analyze particulate matter more precisely than ever before. With its help, they disproved an established doctrine: that molecules in aerosols undergo no further chemical transformations because they are enclosed in other suspended particulate matter. Their findings will help to improve the understanding of global processes involved in cloud formation and air pollution and to refine the corresponding models.
13.Mar.2020
Scientists find high concentrations of toxic phenyltin compounds in local Chinese white dolphins
A research team confirmed the occurrence of biomagnification of toxic substance TPT compounds along the marine food chain resulted in very high concentrations of TPT in two top predators, the Chinese white dolphin and the finless porpoises. This is the first study in the world to confirm the trophic magnification of TPT in food webs of cetacean species.
13.Mar.2020
Can poor air quality make you gain weight?
A new study links air pollution to changes in the human gut microbiome which could fuel diabetes, obesity and inflammatory bowel diseases like colitis and Crohn's disease.
12.Mar.2020
Some domesticated plants ignore beneficial soil microbes
A review by biologists finds that plant domestication has often had a negative effect on plant microbiomes, making domesticated plants more dependent on fertilizer and other soil amendments than their wild relatives. To make crops more productive and sustainable, the authors recommend reintroduction of genes from the wild relatives of commercial crops that restore domesticated plants' ability to interact with beneficial soil microbes.
10.Mar.2020
Biomass fuels can significantly mitigate global warming
Biomass fuels derived from various grasses could significantly mitigate global warming by reducing carbon, according to a long-term field study.
10.Mar.2020
Wearing clothes could release more microfibers to the environment than washing them
In a first-of-its-kind study, scientists compared four different items of polyester clothing and how many fibers were released when they were being worn and washed.
09.Mar.2020
Ship noise leaves crabs too stressed to hide from danger
The ocean is getting too loud even for crabs. Normally, shore crabs (Carcinus maenas) can slowly change their shell color to blend in with the rocky shore, but recent findings show that prolonged exposure to the sounds of ships weakens their camouflaging powers and leaves them more open to attack. The work illustrates how human-made undersea noise can turn shore crabs into sitting ducks for predators.
09.Mar.2020
Fresh groundwater flow important for coastal ecosystems
Groundwater is the largest source of freshwater, one of the world's most precious natural resources and vital for crops and drinking water. Researchers have developed the first global computer model of groundwater flow into the world's oceans. Their analysis shows 20% of the world's coastal ecosystems - such as estuaries, salt marshes and coral reefs - are at risk of pollutants transported by groundwater flow from the land to the sea.
09.Mar.2020
Rain, more than wind, led to massive toppling of trees in Hurricane Maria, says study
A new study says that hurricanes Irma and Maria combined in 2017 to knock down a quarter of the biomass contained in Puerto Rico's trees -- and that massive rainfall, more than wind, was a previously unsuspected key factor. The surprising finding suggests that future hurricanes stoked by warming climate may be even more destructive to forests than scientists have already projected.
09.Mar.2020
Newly uncovered Arctic landscape plays important role in carbon cycle
As the ice sheet covering most of Greenland retreats, researchers are studying the newly revealed landscape to understand its role in the carbon cycle.
05.Mar.2020
Air pollution is one of the world's most dangerous health risks
Researchers calculate that the effects of air pollution shorten the lives of people around the world by an average of almost three years.
05.Mar.2020
Unexpected discovery: Blue-green algae produce oil
Cyanobacteria -- colloquially also called blue-green algae - can produce oil from water and carbon dioxide with the help of light. This is shown by a recent study. The result is unexpected: Until now, it was believed that this ability was reserved for plants. It is possible that blue-green algae will now also become interesting as suppliers of feed or fuel, especially since they do not require arable land.
05.Mar.2020
Tropical forests' carbon sink is already rapidly weakening
The ability of the world's tropical forests to remove carbon from the atmosphere is decreasing, according to a study tracking 300,000 trees over 30 years.
04.Mar.2020
Engineers zap and unstick underwater smart glue
Turning adhesion on and off is what makes a glue smart. Inspired by nature, catechols are synthetic compounds that mimic the wet-but-still-sticky proteins found in mussel feet and offer promise for underwater glue, wound dressings, prosthetic attachments or even making car parts and in other manufacturing. A team has used electricity for the first time to deactivate a catechol-containing adhesive in salt water.
02.Mar.2020
The world faces an air pollution 'pandemic'
Air pollution is responsible for shortening people's lives worldwide on a scale far greater than wars and other forms of violence, parasitic and insect-born diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and smoking, according to a new study.
02.Mar.2020
Is there a technological solution to aquatic dead zones?
Could pumping oxygen-rich surface water into the depths of lakes, estuaries, and coastal ocean waters help ameliorate dangerous dead zones? New work says yes, although they caution that further research would be needed to understand any possible side effects before implementing such an approach.
02.Mar.2020
Directed species loss from species-rich forests strongly decreases productivity
At high species richness, directed loss, but not random loss, of tree species strongly decreases forest productivity. This is shown by data from a big forest project in China. Previous studies based on random species loss could therefore bias the predictions of how more realistic extinction scenarios are likely to affect ecosystem functioning.
02.Mar.2020
Ocean changes almost starved life of oxygen
Chemical changes in the oceans more than 800 million years ago almost destroyed the oxygen-rich atmosphere that paved the way for complex life on Earth, new research suggests.
02.Mar.2020
New tools show a way forward for large-scale storage of renewable energy
A technique based on the principles of MRI has allowed researchers to observe not only how next-generation batteries for large-scale energy storage work, but also how they fail, which will assist in the development of strategies to extend battery lifetimes in support of the transition to a zero-carbon future.
02.Mar.2020
Containing methane and its contribution to global warming
Methane is a gas that deserves more attention in the climate debate as it contributes to almost half of human-made global warming in the short-term. A new study shows that it is possible to significantly contribute to reduced global warming through the implementation of available technology that limits methane release to the atmosphere.
28.Feb.2020
How much does black carbon contribute to climate warming?
Black carbon particles -- more commonly known as soot -- absorb heat in the atmosphere. For years, scientists have known that these particles are having an effect on Earth's warming climate, but measuring their exact effect has proved elusive.
28.Feb.2020
A better way to detect underground water leaks
Researchers propose a new way to locate water leaks within the tangle of aging pipes found beneath many cities. The improvement could save time, money and billions of gallons of water.
27.Feb.2020
Printer toner linked to genetic changes, health risks in new study
According a new study, the microscopic toner nanoparticles that waft from laser printers may change our genetic and metabolic profiles in ways that make disease more likely.
27.Feb.2020
New method converts carbon dioxide to methane at low temperatures
Scientists developed a new method to convert carbon dioxide to methane with an electric field at low temperatures. In comparison to previous methods, this new method can produce any amount of methane whenever necessary. Because methane is a valuable gas which can be used to generate heat and electricity, this method could be exploited to help reduce the use of fossil fuels and prevent global warming.
27.Feb.2020
Antarctic ice walls protect the climate
Inland Antarctic ice contains volumes of water that can raise global sea levels by several meters. A new study shows that glacier ice walls are vital for the climate, as they prevent rising ocean temperatures and melting glacier ice.
27.Feb.2020