News tagged with air quality

Bees helping to monitor air quality at German airports

(PhysOrg.com) -- Air quality around eight airports in Germany is being monitored with the help of bees, whose honey is tested regularly for toxins.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 01, 2010 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Report: Most Americans in areas with unhealthy air

(AP) -- Sixty percent of Americans live in areas with unhealthy air pollution levels, despite a growing green movement and more stringent laws aimed at improving air quality, the American Lung Association ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Apr 29, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 4

Natural levels of nitrogen in tropical forests may increase vulnerability to pollution

(PhysOrg.com) -- Waterways in remote, pristine tropical forests located in the Caribbean and Central America contain levels of nitrogen comparable to amounts found in streams and rivers flowing through polluted forests in ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Mar 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Air pollution levels from Deepwater Horizon spill similar to large urban area

(PhysOrg.com) -- The amount of air pollutants in the atmospheric plume generated by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was similar to a large city according to a new NOAA-led study published today in a special ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 20, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Dust makes light work of vehicle emissions

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers have identified a silver lining in the cloud of red dust that enveloped much of eastern Australia two years ago.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Sep 23, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Obama yields on smog rule in face of GOP demands (Update)

(AP) -- In a dramatic reversal, President Barack Obama on Friday scrubbed a clean-air regulation that aimed to reduce health-threatening smog, yielding to bitterly protesting businesses and congressional ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Sep 02, 2011 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (12) | comments 445

Researchers stumble on colorful discovery

Modified metals that change colour in the presence of particular gases could warn consumers if packaged food has been exposed to air or if there's a carbon monoxide leak at home. This finding could potentially ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jul 21, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

More evidence suggests electric cars need night time charging

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers in America have shown that ozone -- a known pollutant at low levels in the earth's atmosphere, causing harmful effects on the respiratory system and sensitive plants -- can be ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Apr 19, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 5 | with audio podcast

GPS- and WiFi-enabled inhaler to help epidemiologists study asthma

(PhysOrg.com) -- Asthma is a serious medical condition that can have life threatening consequences. That is why most asthmatics carry an inhaler. It is small enough to be nestled in a purse, or carried in ...

Technology / Hi Tech & Innovation

created Apr 13, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast weblog

Faux trees convert CO2 to O2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Air is one of the few things that you really cannot do without. At least if you want to continue to live. As the population of the earth gets bigger and bigger and increasing amounts of the ...

Technology / Engineering

created Mar 10, 2011 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (18) | comments 25 | with audio podcast weblog

Texas petrochemical emissions down, but still underestimated, says study

A thick blanket of yellow haze hovering over Houston as a result of chemical pollution produced by manufacturing petroleum products may be getting a little bit thinner, according to a new study.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Aug 11, 2010 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

China says air pollution worsening

China's air pollution increased this year for the first time since 2005, the environmental protection ministry has said, due to sandstorms, a rise in construction and industrial projects, and more cars.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jul 27, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 6

New approach to emissions makes climate and air quality models more accurate, major study finds

It's no secret that the emissions leaving a car tailpipe or factory smokestack affect climate and air quality. Even trees release chemicals that influence the atmosphere. But until now, scientists have struggled to know where ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (7) | comments 1

Californians -- and their cell phones -- will help computer scientists monitor air pollution

You want to go for a run, but you don't want to run in polluted air that might aggravate your asthma. University of California, San Diego computer scientists are creating a network of environmental sensors ...

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Dec 04, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Research shows some plants can remove indoor pollutants

(PhysOrg.com) -- Some plants have the ability to drastically reduce levels of indoor pollutants, according to new research at the University of Georgia. Researchers showed that certain species can effectively ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (20) | comments 3

Air Quality Index

The Air Quality Index (AQI) (also known as the Air Pollution Index (API) or Pollutant Standard Index (PSI)) is a number used by government agencies to characterize the quality of the air at a given location. As the AQI increases, an increasingly large percentage of the population is likely to experience increasingly severe adverse health effects. To compute the AQI requires an air pollutant concentration from a monitor or model. The function used to convert from air pollutant concentration to AQI varies by pollutant, and is different in different countries. Air quality index values are divided into ranges, and each range is assiged a descriptor and a color code. Standardized public health advisories are associated with each AQI range. An agency might also encourage members of the public to take public transportation or work from home when AQI levels are high.

For more information about Air Quality Index, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Related topics: air pollution , pollution