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Researchers Warn a Common Air Pollutant is a Driver of Dementia, Even at Levels Below Current EPA Standards

           

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Hazed and Confused: The Effect of Air Pollution on Dementia

washingtonpost.com - by Christopher Ingraham - September 5, 2018

Low air quality, even at pollution levels well below current Environmental Protection Agency thresholds, is associated with increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease in later life, according to a new working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Researchers Kelly C. Bishop, Nicolai V. Kuminoff and Jonathan D. Ketcham of Arizona State University cross-referenced more than a decade of Medicare records for 6.9 million older adults with EPA air-quality data to track how exposure to air pollution correlated with rates of dementia.

They found that levels of fine particulate pollution known as PM2.5 were closely associated with higher rates of dementia.

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Climate Change Will Bring Multiple Disasters at Once, Study Warns

           

cbsnews.com - by Jeff Berardelli - November 20, 2018

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Broad threat to humanity from cumulative climate hazards intensified by greenhouse gas emissions

In the not-too-distant future, disasters won't come one at a time. Instead, according to new research, we can expect a cascade of catastrophes, some gradual, others abrupt, all compounding as climate change takes a greater toll . . .

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This oil spill is poised to become one of the biggest environmental disasters in the US

           

An aerial image of an oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico, taken on April 28, 2018.  (Handout photo by Oscar Garcia-Pineda, Water Mapping, LLC)

circa.com - by Julia Boccagno and The Associated Press - October 24, 2018

Millions of gallons of oil have been spewing into the Gulf of Mexico for more than 14 years, forming what is poised to become one of the worst environmental disasters in the United States, according the Gulf Restoration Network, which has been tracking the chronic leak.

"There has been an uptrend of the areas of the slick during the last two years," wrote Oscar Pineda-Garcia, who runs a company that maps oil spills and is an adjunct professor at Florida State University.

Environmental leaders suggest that the Taylor Energy Co. oil spill has dumped anywhere between 10,000 to 30,000 gallons of oil a day since 2004, when its platform collapsed during Hurricane Ivan.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLES WITHIN THE LINKS BELOW . . .

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Red Tide Confirmed in Miami-Dade, and Some Beaches Have Been Closed

           

Red Tide has caused scores of dead sea-life to wash up on beaches in Southwest Florida. Footage shows scenes from Boca Grande beach on July 28 - by Jeremy Judkins via Storyful

miamiherald.com - BY DAVID J. NEAL, DOUGLAS HANKS AND JENNY STALETOVICH - October 4, 2018

A red tide that has sloshed up and down the Gulf Coast for nearly a year, leaving a wake of dead sea life, murky water and stinky beaches, has now landed on the state’s most crowded shores with the toxic algae confirmed Thursday in Miami-Dade County.

While far more milder than what’s appeared on the west coast — algae levels that cause blooms have not climbed above moderate so far — the spread raises concerns about a deepening crisis in a state already battling a summerlong blue green algae in Lake Okeechobee.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE - Florida confirms toxic red tide spreading along Atlantic coast

 

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NASA Captures Polluted Carolina Rivers Spilling Into the Ocean After Hurricane Florence

           

NASA - September 19, 2018

CLICK HERE - NASA - A Broad View of Flooding in the Carolinas

time.com - by ELI MEIXLER - September 26, 2018

Flooding from Hurricane Florence, which battered the Carolinas this month, is so severe that NASA was able to spot darkened, contaminated rivers flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.

Nearly 8 trillion gallons of rain fell on North Carolina during the storm, according to the National Weather Service in Raleigh. That deluge took a devastating toll, swelling rivers and inundating homes.

NASA satellite images released this week reveal just how engorged, and polluted the rivers and other waterways became.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - Wash your hands if you touch the ocean in NC – and forget swimming, experts warn

 

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Texas, Refineries Urged to Plan Storm Shutdowns to Cut Pollution

           

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the Shell Deer Park Manufacturing Complex is seen in Deer Park, Texas, U.S. August 31, 2017. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File Photo

CLICK HERE - REPORT - Preparing for the Next Storm (33 page .PDF report)

reuters.com - by Timothy Gardner - August 16, 2018

Texas environment regulators should coordinate shutdowns of oil refineries and other petrochemical plants during major storms to avoid big releases of air pollution like during last year’s Hurricane Harvey, a report said on Thursday.

A year ago Harvey dumped more than 60 inches (1.5 meters) of rain on southeastern Texas, halting refineries that produce a quarter of U.S. fuel and damaging infrastructure.

Texas industry, including refineries and petrochemical plants, released an extra 8.3 million pounds (3.8 million kg) of air pollutants including cancer-causing benzene, during Harvey, said the report . . . 

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Worst "Red Tide" Toxic Algae Bloom in Years Killing Turtles, Manatees in Florida

           

cbsnews.com - by Manuel Bojorquez - August 2, 2018

Thousands of fish, eels and turtles are dying, sometimes as far as the eye can see, in parts of southwest Florida . . . The suspected culprit is a toxic algae bloom known as "red tide."

 . . . The toxins can also be harmful to humans, causing respiratory illnesses for some beachgoers.

 . . . Warmer waters and runoff from lakes and streams can fuel the problem.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

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Red Tide Algae Bloom Killing Marine Life Off Florida Coast

cbsnews.com - August 3, 2018

Dead marine life is washing up on the west coast of Florida. The culprit is a massive red tide algae bloom. The algae can also cause respiratory problems in humans. WPEC-TV meteorologist Jeff Berardelli joins CBSN with more on what's causing the bloom and what is being done to clean it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olPO84amiZY

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Earth's Carbon Dioxide Levels Continue to Soar, at Highest Point in 800,000 Years

                   

(Photo: Getty Images)

CLICK HERE - Scripps Institute of Oceanography - CARBON DIOXIDE IN THE ATMOSPHERE HITS RECORD HIGH MONTHLY AVERAGE

usatoday.com - by Doyle Rice - May 4, 2018

Carbon dioxide — the gas scientists say is most responsible for global warming — reached its highest level in recorded history last month, at 410 parts per million.

This amount is highest in at least the past 800,000 years, according to the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. Prior to the onset of the Industrial Revolution, carbon dioxide levels had fluctuated over the millennia but had never exceeded 300 parts per million.

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A Shockingly Small Number of Earth's Population Still Have Access to Unpolluted Air

           

(Daniel Stein/iStock)

You're probably not amongst the lucky few.

CLICK HERE - REPORT - State of Global Air 2018

sciencealert.com - by David Nield - April 19, 2018

How's the air in your neighbourhood today? A new State of Global Air report suggests more than 95 percent of the planet's population currently have to breathe polluted air – air containing fine particle levels that exceed the global air quality guidelines.

What's more, the burden of bad air quality is affecting the poorest communities the most. According to the US Health Effects Institute (HEI), which carried out the study, the gap between the most polluted and least polluted countries is steadily growing bigger.

This is having a real effect on health, too – an estimated 6.1 million deaths across the world in 2016 could be attributed to air pollution, the HEI reports. Strokes, heart attacks, lung cancer, and chronic lung disease were some of the health issues to blame.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

 

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