Air pollution linked to nearly 2,000 child deaths a day: Report
Nearly 2,000 children die every day from health problems linked to air pollution, which is now the second biggest risk factor for early death worldwide, a report said Wednesday.
Nearly 2,000 children die every day from health problems linked to air pollution, which is now the second biggest risk factor for early death worldwide, a report said Wednesday.
Environment
Jun 19, 2024
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Starting in July 2024, California will be the first state to charge an excise tax on guns and ammunition. The new tax—an 11% levy on each sale—will come on top of federal excise taxes of 10% or 11% for firearms and California's ...
Economics & Business
May 21, 2024
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5
In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon emissions budget.
Environment
Apr 28, 2024
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Governments and international organizations have touted the circular economy, in which materials and products stay in circulation for as long as possible, as an antidote to our global plastic problem. (The equivalent of 2,000 ...
Environment
Mar 26, 2024
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Archaeologists have analyzed chemical residues from ceramic vases at the city of Cotzumalhuapa, Guatemala, revealing physical evidence of tobacco use in Mesoamerica, likely for ritual and therapeutic purposes.
Archaeology
Mar 5, 2024
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135
Dogs are humans' best friends. Need to quickly locate a bomb? There's a dog for that. Can't see very well? There's a dog for that. Searching for a lost hiker in the mountains or survivors in an earthquake, diagnosing illness, ...
Veterinary medicine
Jan 3, 2024
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25
The costs of environmental pollution caused by plastics in cigarette butts and packaging amount to an estimated US $26 billion every year or US $186 billion every 10 years—adjusted for inflation—in waste management and ...
Environment
Nov 29, 2023
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An international group of 35 scientists is calling out conflicts of interest plaguing global plastic treaty negotiations and that have interfered with timely action on other health and environmental issues. They urge the ...
Environment
Nov 9, 2023
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Epigenetics, the chemical mechanisms that control the activity of genes, allows our cells, tissues and organs to adapt to the changing circumstances of the environment around us. This advantage can become a drawback, though, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 2, 2023
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54
DNA analysis of mummified poop reveals two pre-Columbian Caribbean cultures ate a wide variety of plants, like maize, sweet potato, and peanuts—and tobacco and cotton traces were detected too, according to a study published ...
Archaeology
Oct 11, 2023
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Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as an organic pesticide, and in the form of nicotine tartrate it is used in some medicines. In consumption it most commonly appears in the forms of smoking, chewing, snuffing, or dipping tobacco, or snus. Tobacco has long been in use as an entheogen in the Americas. However, upon the arrival of Europeans in North America, it quickly became popularized as a trade item and as a recreational drug. This popularization led to the development of the southern economy of the United States until it gave way to cotton. Following the American Civil War, a change in demand and a change in labor force allowed for the development of the cigarette. This new product quickly led to the growth of tobacco companies until the scientific controversy of the mid-1900s.
There are many species of tobacco, which are all encompassed by the plant genus Nicotiana. The word nicotiana (as well as nicotine) was named in honor of Jean Nicot, French ambassador to Portugal, who in 1559 sent it as a medicine to the court of Catherine de Medici.
Because of the addictive properties of nicotine, tolerance and dependence develop. Absorption quantity, frequency, and speed of tobacco consumption are believed to be directly related to biological strength of nicotine dependence, addiction, and tolerance. The usage of tobacco is an activity that is practiced by some 1.1 billion people, and up to 1/3 of the adult population. The World Health Organization reports it to be the leading preventable cause of death worldwide and estimates that it currently causes 5.4 million deaths per year. Rates of smoking have leveled off or declined in developed countries, however they continue to rise in developing countries.
Tobacco is cultivated similar to other agricultural products. Seeds are sown in cold frames or hotbeds to prevent attacks from insects, and then transplanted into the fields. Tobacco is an annual crop, which is usually harvested in a large single-piece farm equipment. After harvest, tobacco is stored to allow for curing, which allow for the slow oxidation and degradation of carotenoids. This allows for the agricultural product to take on properties that are usually attributed to the "smoothness" of the smoke. Following this, tobacco is packed into its various forms of consumption which include smoking, chewing, sniffing, and so on.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA