A lack of human activity in the Southern Ocean is just one reason why the air is so clean. Clouds and rain play a vital role in scrubbing the atmosphere, removing natural airborne particles too.
Toilets eject aerosol droplets that may carry disease-causing pathogens. Learning about how these particles move could help reduce exposure in public restrooms.
Brown carbon refers to a range of pollutants found in smoke from wildfires. They can contribute to global warming before they undergo a process that alters their chemical properties.
Julien Emile-Geay, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Thanks to humans, the concentration of planet-warming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is now 50% higher than before the industrial era. These gases are raising Earth’s temperature.
The CDC’s updated mask guidelines say that cloth masks offer the least protection from COVID-19. Differences in the materials masks are made from and the ways they fit are the reason.
Delta is more contagious and appears to be more deadly. And it’s more likely to land those infected in hospital and intensive care. Here’s what the latest evidence says about the dominant variant.
Air-ventilation upgrades have been badly needed in U.S. classrooms since long before the pandemic. Low-tech filtration systems that cost about the same as a textbook per student can make a big difference.
James Renwick, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
New Zealand’s climate has been changing in line with global trends over the last century, warming by 1.1°C. But unless we curb emissions fast, we can brace for more extreme downpours and droughts.
Picture yourself at the gym. It might be confined, people are huffing and puffing, everyone is moving around. And that’s before you hit the showers and change room.
Surface transmission is a very uncommon way of getting COVID. We should focus most of our attention on the airborne route, potentially saving millions of dollars on obsessive cleaning practices.
How well your mask works depends on how well it fits. Wearing two snug masks made of different materials offers 95% protection from exposure to aerosols that could contain the coronavirus.
With no national standard, casually employed staff, a lack of PPE and a refusal to account for aerosol transmission, infections such as the one that prompted Perth’s lockdown will keep happening.
The new SARS-CoV-2 variant is already spreading in the US and could be dominant by March, the CDC warns. Here’s what that means for the masks you choose and how you practice social distancing.
Epidemiologists reviewed 25 studies of cloth face masks. Here’s what they found out about how well they work, why they work, who they protect and why the mosquito and chain-link fence analogy is wrong.