Despite claims that lowering speed limits will harm the economy, evidence suggests journey times are hardly affected. And beyond reducing the road toll, there are health and climate benefits, too.
Federal regulators are examining the health effects of emissions from gas stoves.
SolStock via Getty Images
Natural gas has been marketed for decades as a clean fuel, but a growing body of research shows that gas stoves can contribute significantly to indoor air pollution, as well as climate change.
Venus has a thick, toxic atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide.
Jurik Peter/Shutterstock
Flaring, or burning, waste gas from energy production has sharply increased over the past decade. It wastes usable fuel, pollutes the air, and helps drive climate change.
Strict physical distancing restrictions have resulted in cleaner air, but atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to rise.
PeteLinforth/Pixabay
Leaving your car running will marginally increase CO2 emissions, but it may massively reduce exposure to the toxic gases and particulates that are shortening thousands of lives.
The Big Brown coal plant in Fairfield is among the Texas power stations that have been shut down.
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
A study of the social cost of carbon emitted by the shrinking fleet of Texan coal plants suggests that closing more of them down would be good for the climate and public health.
Good for plants, bad for the atmosphere.
Roadsidepictures
Carbon dioxide is the “face” of the greenhouse gases, but nitrous oxide (N2O) merits its own spotlight. The same “laughing gas” once used by dentists as an anaesthetic and used today by people looking…
Australian farmers apply nearly a million tonnes of nitrogen-based fertilisers every year.
Pete Hill/Flickr
Peter Grace, Queensland University of Technology and Louise Barton, The University of Western Australia
When we talk about greenhouse gases we usually talk about carbon dioxide. When media reports depict climate change, we invariably see the cooling towers of a coal power station. Which is fair, because…
Is that an volatile organic compound I can smell, or your aftershave?
Lei Han
While city planners have been encouraged to plant trees and gardens to green the city for the health of its inhabitants, recent research has found that the same trees can damage certain buildings. Our…
So serious are the effects of air pollution on human health - the WHO recently categorised it as carcinogenic, responsible for 223,000 deaths a year worldwide - that it is easy to neglect its wider impact…
Plants that breathe nitrogen.
University of Nottingham
Each year more than 1 million tonnes of mineral nitrogen fertiliser is applied to arable and grass crops in the UK. This pollutes waterways through nitrate run-off and the atmosphere from the release of…
Pollution face masks are not just for China.
Dave Thompson/PA
It may seem odd for the European Commission to declare 2013 the “Year of the Air” in order to focus on improving air quality standards. Most would feel air pollution is a problem that has been more or…
Professor & Chair in Air Quality and Health; Founding Director, Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Co-Director, Institute for Sustainability, University of Surrey, University of Surrey