Air pollution

Analysis and Comment (10)

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Thousands of dead pigs pulled from a Chinese river are pushing China’s parliament to take the environment more seriously. Philippe Semanaz

Pigs and pollution: China can’t keep ignoring the environment

By Yanshuang Zhang

In a joke currently circulating on China’s most popular social media, Sina Weibo, a Beijing resident boasts about his happy life in the badly air-polluted capital, saying that every morning when he opens…
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Heavy smog is descending on Beijing again, a week after record air pollution choked China’s capital and much of northern China. AAP/EPA/Adrian Bradshaw

Deadly air: the smog shrouding China’s future

By Yanshuang Zhang

Beijing has been smothered by a dense and dangerous smog this month, which has set new air pollution records over several days. The World Health Organization advises that the acceptable level of fine…
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Why hasn’t human health been considered in the push for expanded coal facilities? AAP Image/Paul Miller

Newcastle’s T4 project puts short-term profit before health

By David Shearman and Linda Selvey, Curtin University

A massive expansion of Newcastle’s coal export terminal has been proposed by Port Waratah Coal Services. Approval is likely soon, but the expansion’s effect on human health has been ignored in the project…
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Unsafe: thousands of Port Pirie children have been poisoned over decades, and yet government after government fails to stop it. Flickr/Viola Ng

Lead poisoning of Port Pirie children: a long history of looking the other way

By Mark Taylor

It is shocking to discover that more than 3000 children have been lead poisoned in the South Australian town of Port Pirie during the last decade. Whilst Australia continues to be a world leader in lead…
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Nice when a few sandstone houses get smoking, but what are people breathing in bigger rural towns where wood stoves are common? Flickr/welshmackem

Should we worry about winter chimney haze in rural towns?

By Graeme Palmer

Winter in many Australian country towns is accompanied by a pall of smoke from wood-fired heaters that lasts from late afternoon to the following morning. In larger towns and cities burning wood has been…
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It’s currently difficult to limit your exposure to traffic pollution because you can’t smell it. Flickr/pəruse

Creating a stink about traffic pollution

By Adrian Barnett, Queensland University of Technology; Joacim Rocklöv, Umeå University, and Nicholas Graves, Queensland University of Technology

The World Health Organization’s recent decision to categorise diesel fumes as carcinogenic is yet another reminder of the negative health effects of traffic pollution. Cancer can now be added to a list…
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It’s not just greenhouse gases that affect climate: other air pollution could be changing atmospheric circulation. NASA Goddard Photo and Video

Poleward-shifting climate zones – where are they headed and why?

By Joseph Kidston

The Earth’s principal climatic zones appear to be shifting poleward. If this continues, as climate models project, the weather patterns that give rise to deserts in the subtropics, and stormy wet weather…
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Australians should be more aware of the health effects of pollution. OZinOH

Why petrol bowsers deserve the same treatment as cigarette packs

By Adrian Barnett, Queensland University of Technology

Every time smokers pull a cigarette pack out of their pocket, they’re reminded of the harms their habit is likely to cause. In much the same way, Australian petrol stations should display health warnings…
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The risk of cancer from air pollution is a fraction of the hazard posed by smoking. EPA/Alex Hofford

Unproven cancer risks diverting focus from real cause: lifestyle

By Justin Norrie, The Conversation

The fixation on potentially cancer-causing chemicals in the air, food and consumer products is diverting attention from the real risks, according to a review of global evidence by an Australian cancer…

Research and News (1)

Research Briefs (8)

Tree molecule dangerous for your health

UNC-Chapel HIll

A molecule produced by trees has the ability to combine with pollutants to create a potentially dangerous form of air pollution…

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