Air quality, as a phenomenon, refers to the physicochemical state of the atmosphere with respect to the presence, concentration, and reactivity of gaseous and particulate constituents, including criteria pollutants (e.g., ozone, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter) and numerous hazardous air pollutants. It emerges from dynamic interactions among emission sources, atmospheric transport, dispersion, chemical transformation, and removal processes such as deposition and scavenging. Quantification of air quality relies on continuous or episodic monitoring, expressed through pollutant concentrations and composite indices, and is central to studying atmospheric chemistry, exposure assessment, and the impacts of atmospheric composition on biological, ecological, and material systems.
A new study shows that during drought, it's not how hot or how dry it is that determines gas emissions from plants—but how quickly conditions change. This discovery reshapes our understanding of the relationship between drought, ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 2, 2025
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46
In a new study that took advantage of the worldwide shutdown of human activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers from Ateneo de Manila University—Manila Observatory and University of Arizona revealed surprising insights ...
Environment
Dec 2, 2025
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12
South Florida's air may not be as clean as it seems. Invisible yet all around, PFAS—the so-called "forever chemicals"—drift silently through the air, carrying hidden health risks.
Environment
Dec 1, 2025
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14
Winter is setting in across the Northern Hemisphere, and with it, cold and cloudy winter days. Clouds play a vital role in the environment, providing rain but also reflecting sunlight before it reaches Earth's surface.
Environment
Nov 17, 2025
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35
Fossil fuels release pollutants into the air when extracted and burned, but there's more to their production than massive oil rigs diving deep into Earth and smoky power plants. Those processes are examples of only the first ...
Environment
Nov 17, 2025
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285
Harmful levels of indoor air pollution have been discovered in U.K. homes, with families from deprived areas and ethnic minority backgrounds facing the highest levels of exposure, according to a new study from the University ...
Environment
Nov 13, 2025
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18
A research team led by Prof. Li Xiangxian from the Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has developed a new deep learning model that significantly ...
Environment
Nov 6, 2025
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18
Earth is reflecting less sunlight, and absorbing more heat, than it did several decades ago. Global warming is advancing faster than climate models predicted, with observed temperatures exceeding projections in 2023 and 2024. ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 5, 2025
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66
Severe fine dust pollution over Seoul and Mexico City, being composed of the same type of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), exhibits markedly different characteristics. Seoul's air tends to reflect sunlight, contributing to ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 31, 2025
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28
A new method developed at the University of Warwick offers the first simple and predictive way to calculate how irregularly shaped nanoparticles—a dangerous class of airborne pollutant—move through the air.
General Physics
Oct 29, 2025
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61
