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WHO: Air pollution levels rising in many of the world’s poorest cities

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More than 80% of people living in urban areas that monitor air pollution are exposed to air quality levels that exceed World Health Organization (WHO) limits, according to the organization. Global urban air pollution trends. While all regions of the world are affected, populations in low-income cities are the most impacted.

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Study Links Springtime Ozone Increases Above Western North America to Emissions in Asia

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Springtime ozone distributions for 1984, 1995–2008 in the mid-troposphere (3.0–8.0 Springtime ozone levels above western North America are rising primarily due to air flowing eastward from the Pacific Ocean, a trend that is largest when the air originates in Asia. km), and air mass source regions. Credit: Nature, Cooper et al.

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Study of lead isotopes provides insight into aerosols transport from Asia to US

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About a third of the airborne lead particles collected at two sites in the San Francisco Bay Area came from Asia, a finding that underscores the far-flung impacts of air pollution and heralds a new way to learn more about its journey across vast distances. —John Christensen. —Stephanie Ewing. One site was on Mt.

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OICR-led study shows that environmental exposures such as air pollution are more determinant of respiratory health than inherited genetics

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Researchers from the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), with colleagues at other institutions in Canada and the UK, have found strong evidence that environmental exposures, including air pollution, affect gene expressions associated with respiratory diseases much more than genetic ancestry. A permutation test ( n ?=?10,000

Pollution 150
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Fossil Fuel Production Up in 2008 Despite Recession

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in 2008 to reach 27.4 Continuing a decade-long trend, most of the growth was in the Asia-Pacific region, where production grew 6.3%. By 2008, coal production represented a third of fossil energy production. Despite marginal improvements in utilization efficiency, coal continues to be the most polluting fossil fuel.

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Researchers identify new nitrated PAH compounds from combustion that are hundreds of times more mutagenic than parent PAHs

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These new compounds were not previously known to exist, and raise additional concerns about the health impacts of heavily-polluted urban air or dietary exposure. PAHs are one of the types of pollutants found on particulate matter in air pollution that are of special concern. Staci Simonich.

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WHO data: global annual PM10 increased by 6% during recent 3-year period; based on data from 851 cities

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Air quality in most cities worldwide that monitor outdoor (ambient) air pollution fails to meet World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for safe levels, putting people at additional risk of respiratory disease and other health problems, according to WHO’s expanded ambient (outdoor) air pollution (AAP) in cities database 2014.

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