air pollution
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A Sunscreen for Pavement Could Help Keep Cities Cool
The heat dome baking vast swaths of the U.S. and Canada has put the dangers of extreme heat on display. It points to the need for urgent adaptation so that cities don’t overheat, and that means reducing the urban heat island. Absent planting more trees, there may be other solutions to help keep cities cooler as…
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Natural Gas Is Now More Deadly Than Coal in 19 U.S. States
Unhealthy air pollution generally brings to mind coal-fired plants spewing black soot from a smokestack. But that image may quickly be becoming outdated. A study published on Wednesday in Environmental Research Letters found that using natural gas and biomass in sources like buildings and industrial boilers actually caused more deaths in 19 states as a…
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Coronavirus Lockdowns Didn’t Reduce Air Pollution as Much as We Thought
I know it seems like forever ago, but think back to the early days of covid-19 when lockdowns first halted travel and industry in huge swaths of the world. It was devastating to the economy and was a symptom of a huge public health problem, but reports showed there was at least one good thing…
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The World’s First Death Attributed to Air Pollution Could Spark the Change We Need
In a groundbreaking decision on Wednesday, a UK court ruled that polluted air was a contributing factor to the 9-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah’s untimely, tragic passing in 2013. She is the first person in the world to have a death certificate that lists air pollution as a cause of death. The declaration could reverberate around the…