The Environmental Protection Agency has finalized a rule that limits scientific research used in the crafting of public health and environmental policy. From a report: Researchers argue the rule that prioritizes studies with all data available publicly “essentially blocks” research that uses personal information and confidential medical records that can’t be released because of privacy conditions, per the New York Times,…
Tag: clean air
Rosamund Kissi-Debrah: Clean air ‘Ella’s law’ would honour her memory
New Scientist spoke with Rosamund Kissi-Debrah to hear what she thought of the inquest that found air pollution had contributed to her daughter Ella’s death, and what should happen next Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2263428-rosamund-kissi-debrah-clean-air-ellas-law-would-honour-her-memory/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Less air pollution during Covid-19 restrictions, says study
NASA researchers have found that since February, pandemic restrictions have reduced global nitrogen dioxide concentrations by nearly 20%. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/how-much-covid19-related-pollution-levels-deviated-from-norm-2020…
Make Remote Work Permanent? No Way, Say Bay Area Leaders
Last month a regional government agency in the San Francisco Bay Area voted “to move forward” with a proposal to eventually require people at large, office-based companies to work from home three days a week “as a way to slash greenhouse gas emissions from car commutes,” according to NBC News. But today local newspapers report “Bay Area leaders are already saying,…
What’s in wildfire smoke and why it’s so bad for your lungs
The health impact of wildfire exposure depends in part on the fire itself and how much smoke a person breathes in, how often and for how long. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/what-is-in-wildfire-smoke…
Today is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day
Today is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, which catalyzed action to protect the environment, not just in the US but internationally. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/first-earth-day-50th-anniversary-april22-2020…
What is the gegenschein?
The sun’s counterglow – or gegenschein – is kind of a stargazers’ legend. What is it, and how can you see it? Erwin Matys and Karoline Mrazek of Project Nightflight explain. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/definition-what-is-the-gegenschein…
Slate Announces List of The 30 Most Evil Tech Companies
An anonymous reader quotes Slate: Separating out the meaningful threats from the noise is hard. Is Facebook really the danger to democracy it looks like? Is Uber really worse than the system it replaced? Isn’t Amazon’s same-day delivery worth it? Which harms are real and which are hypothetical? Has the techlash gotten it right? And which of these companies is really…