http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Air pollution from wildland fires and urban and agricultural areas in California is diminishing air quality at Devils Postpile National Monument, according to a recent study published in the journal Atmospheric Environment. http://phys.org/news285947430.html Space & Earth Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:50:36 EST news285947430 (Phys.org) —Increases in ground-level ozone, especially in rural areas, may interfere not only with predator insects finding host plants, but also with pollinators finding flowers, according to researchers from Penn State and the University of Virginia. http://phys.org/news284122427.html Space & Earth Tue, 02 Apr 2013 11:53:54 EST news284122427 (AP)—Houston residents now can have in their pocket the answer to whether ozone levels in the city are too high for their asthmatic child to play soccer. http://phys.org/news284096523.html Space & Earth Tue, 02 Apr 2013 04:42:10 EST news284096523 Several health risks are attributed to ozone exposure. These include aggravated asthma, coughing, inflamed breathing passages and increased vulnerability to respiratory infections. http://phys.org/news282919460.html Space & Earth Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:44:28 EST news282919460 (Phys.org) —A combination of extreme cold temperatures, man-made chemicals and a stagnant atmosphere were behind what became known as the Arctic ozone hole of 2011, a new NASA study finds. http://phys.org/news282241275.html Space & Earth Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:21:34 EST news282241275 There is good news and better news about ground-level ozone in American cities. While dangerous ozone levels have fallen in places that clamp down on emissions from vehicles and industry, a new study from Rice University suggests that a model widely used to predict the impact of remediation efforts has been too conservative. http://phys.org/news282223503.html Space & Earth Mon, 11 Mar 2013 12:25:47 EST news282223503 Thanks to sensors installed on trams that send data live to mobile phones, people can check air pollution levels around the city with just one click and in real time. This new app developed by EPFL researchers was recently tested in Zurich. http://phys.org/news282208684.html Technology Mon, 11 Mar 2013 08:40:01 EST news282208684 Concern is growing about finding alternatives to fossil fuels, but the negative impact of one of these—biofuels—may be greater than we first thought, say scientists. http://phys.org/news279266888.html Space & Earth Tue, 05 Feb 2013 06:08:14 EST news279266888 Researchers in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health assessed the impact of pollution on agricultural worker productivity using daily variations in ozone levels. Their results show that ozone, even at levels below current air-quality standards in most parts of the world, has significant negative impacts on worker productivity. Their findings suggest that environmental protection is important for promoting economic growth and investing in human capital in contrast to its common portrayal as a tax on producers. Results of the study are published in the American Economic Review. http://phys.org/news275066160.html Other Sciences Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:16:04 EST news275066160 U.S. Forest Service and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) scientists have found that rising levels of ozone, a greenhouse gas, may amplify the impacts of higher temperatures and reduce streamflow from forests to rivers, streams, and other water bodies. Such effects could potentially reduce water supplies available to support forest ecosystems and people in the southeastern United States. http://phys.org/news269778760.html Space & Earth Thu, 18 Oct 2012 11:32:48 EST news269778760 (Phys.org)—New models are being developed to predict how changing land use in the tropics could affect future climate, air quality and crop production. http://phys.org/news268898658.html Space & Earth Mon, 08 Oct 2012 07:04:25 EST news268898658 The extreme Texas heat often keeps Houstonians from heading to the park or taking an afternoon jog. Sometimes, however, they're dissuaded from outdoor activities due to poor air quality. http://phys.org/news264688066.html Space & Earth Mon, 20 Aug 2012 13:29:02 EST news264688066 Hong Kong choked under the worst smog ever recorded in the city Thursday, with residents warned to stay indoors, away from the blanket of toxic haze, officials said. http://phys.org/news263100999.html Space & Earth Thu, 02 Aug 2012 04:50:03 EST news263100999 Worldwide increases in the incidences of asthma, allergies, infectious and cardiovascular diseases will result from a variety of impacts of global climate change, including rising temperatures, worsening ozone levels in urban areas, the spread of desertification, and expansions of the ranges of communicable diseases as the planet heats up, the professional organization representing respiratory and airway physicians stated in a new position paper released today. http://phys.org/news251007505.html Space & Earth Thu, 15 Mar 2012 05:26:53 EST news251007505 As Asian countries develop, they are emitting more ozone precursors that pollute surface level air. Many studies have documented this pollution being carried by air currents to the western United States. To learn more about the mechanisms that transport air pollution across the ocean and determine the effects of Asian air pollution on air quality in the western United States, Lin et al. analyzed in situ and satellite measurements from May 2010 to June 2010 using a global high- resolution climate chemistry model. http://phys.org/news249901013.html Space & Earth Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:30:01 EST news249901013 The reconstruction of ozone levels over the Iberian Peninsula between 1979 and 2008 reveals that positive trends began eight years after the ratification of the Montreal Protocol. Furthermore, results show that Spain quickly recovered part of its lost ozone thanks to tropospheric ozone, a secondary pollutant derived from industrial emissions. http://phys.org/news242305626.html Space & Earth Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:20:11 EST news242305626 Satellite views of the Midwestern United States show that ozone levels above 50 parts per billion (ppb) along the ground could reduce soybean yields by at least 10 percent, costing more than $1 billion in lost crop production, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists. http://phys.org/news233850436.html Space & Earth Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:27:27 EST news233850436 The first screening by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists of the American ancestors of soybeans for tolerance to ozone and other stresses had an eye-opening result: The world superstars of stress resistance hailed from a little village in far northern Sweden, called Fiskeby. http://phys.org/news231154662.html Biology Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:38:01 EST news231154662 Atmospheric aerosol particles (otherwise known as Particulate Matter) have been masking the true rate of greenhouse gas induced global warming during the industrial period. New investigations show that the aerosol cooling effect will be strongly reduced by 2030, as air pollution abatements are implemented worldwide and the presently available advanced control technologies are utilized. These actions would increase the global mean temperature by ca. 1 degree Celsius. This is one of the main research outcomes of the recently concluded EU EUCAARI (European Integrated project on Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality Interaction) project. http://phys.org/news228566469.html Space & Earth Wed, 29 Jun 2011 11:41:21 EST news228566469 Smog and soot levels have dropped significantly in Southern California over the last decade, but the Los Angeles region still has the highest levels of ozone nationwide, violating federal health standards an average of 137 days a year. http://phys.org/news223230553.html Space & Earth Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:20:01 EST news223230553 (AP) -- Wyoming, famous for its crisp mountain air and breathtaking, far-as-the-eye-can-see vistas, is looking a lot like smoggy Los Angeles these days because of a boom in natural gas drilling. http://phys.org/news218812341.html Space & Earth Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:14:17 EST news218812341 Ozone affects pollen allergens: at ozone levels typical of photochemical smog, more allergens are formed in pollen. This connection has been demonstrated in the rye plant and is now being published in the prestigious Journal of Allergy Clinical Immunology. The project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF shows that elevated ozone levels during maturation increase the protein and allergen contents of rye pollen. This points to a relationship between current environmental problems due to climate change and the rise in allergies. http://phys.org/news201793546.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:10:01 EST news201793546 Although global grain production must double by 2050 to address rising population and demand, new data from the University of Illinois suggests crop yields will suffer unless new approaches to adapt crop plants to climate change are adopted. Improved agronomic traits responsible for the remarkable increases in yield accomplished during the past 50 years have reached their ceiling for some of the world's most important crops. http://phys.org/news197741373.html Biology Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:30:01 EST news197741373 Kudzu, an invasive vine that is spreading across the southeastern United States and northward, is a major contributor to large-scale increases of the pollutant surface ozone, according to a study published the week of May 17 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://phys.org/news193336899.html Space & Earth Mon, 17 May 2010 18:20:01 EST news193336899 Increased growth in Antarctic sea ice during the past 30 years is a result of changing weather patterns caused by the ozone hole according to new research published this week (Thurs 23 April 2009). http://phys.org/news159528096.html Space & Earth Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:22:00 EST news159528096 Long-term exposure to ground-level ozone, a major component of smog, is associated with an increased risk of death from respiratory ailments, according to a new nationwide study led by a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. http://phys.org/news156013470.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:05:11 EST news156013470 Increasing greenhouse gases could delay, or even postpone indefinitely the recovery of stratospheric ozone in some regions of the Earth, a new study suggests. This change might take a toll on public health. http://phys.org/news152975254.html Space & Earth Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:08:00 EST news152975254 Wildfires can boost ozone pollution to levels that violate U.S. health standards, a new study concludes. The research, by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), focused on California wildfires in 2007, finding that they repeatedly caused ground-level ozone to spike to unhealthy levels across a broad area, including much of rural California as well as neighboring Nevada. http://phys.org/news142775299.html Space & Earth Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:48:19 EST news142775299