Heat-trapping emissions could be stored under the ocean

Conditions deep beneath the ocean floor are ripe for the permanent storage of heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions, according to research published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The new study -- conducted by researchers at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Columbia University -- raises the possibility of injecting the atmosphere's most abundant greenhouse gas at least 3,000 meters below sea level.

Outdoor Air Pollution Causes Infant Deaths

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/118/2/493?ct=ct


PEDIATRICS Vol. 118 No. 2 August 2006, pp. 493-502 (doi:10.1542/peds.2006-0027)

ARTICLE
Air Pollution and Infant Death in Southern California, 1989–2000 Beate Ritz, MD, PhDa,b, Michelle Wilhelm, PhDa,b and Yingxu Zhao, PhDa
a Department of Epidemiologyb Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, California

OBJECTIVE. We evaluated the influence of outdoor air pollution on infant death in the South Coast Air Basin of California, an area characterized by some of the worst air quality in the United States.

METHODS. Linking birth and death certificates for infants who died between 1989 and 2000, we identified all infant deaths, matched 10 living control subjects to each case subject, and assigned the nearest air monitoring station to each birth address. For all subjects, we calculated average carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and particulate matter <10 µm in aerodynamic diameter exposures experienced during the 2-week, 1-month, 2-month, and 6-month periods before a case subject's death.

RESULTS. The risk of respiratory death increased from 20% to 36% per 1-ppm increase in average carbon monoxide levels 2 weeks before death in early infancy (age: 28 days to 3 months). We also estimated 7% to 12% risk increases for respiratory deaths per 10-µg/m3 increase in particulate matter <10 µm in aerodynamic diameter exposure experienced 2 weeks before death for infants 4 to 12 months of age. Risk of respiratory death more than doubled for infants 7 to 12 months of age who were exposed to high average levels of particulates in the previous 6 months. Furthermore, the risk of dying as a result of sudden infant death syndrome increased 15% to 19% per 1-part per hundred million increase in average nitrogen dioxide levels 2 months before death. Low birth weight and preterm infants seemed to be more susceptible to air pollution-related death resulting from these causes; however, we lacked statistical power to confirm this heterogeneity with formal testing.

CONCLUSIONS. Our results add to the growing body of literature implicating air pollution in infant death from respiratory causes and sudden infant death syndrome and provide additional information for future risk assessment.

Key Words: air pollution • infant death • postneonatal death • epidemiology • respiratory death • sudden infant death syndrome • mortality
Abbreviations: PM10—particulate matter <10 µm in aerodynamic diameter • SoCAB—South Coast Air Basin • CI—confidence interval • OR—odds ratio • SIDS—sudden infant death syndrome • ICD-9—International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision • ICD-10—International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision • pphm—parts per hundred million • O3—ozone • NO2—nitrogen dioxide • CO—carbon monoxide • LBW—low birth weight • SO2—sulfur dioxide • PM2.5—particulate matter <2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter

NY Times: mercury found in songbirds

Study of Songbirds Finds High Levels of Mercury

By ANTHONY DePALMA
Published: July 25, 2006

A biologist studying wild songbirds in New York State has found that all 178 woodland birds he tested last year had unusually high levels of mercury in their blood and feathers, a sign that the toxic chemical has spread farther in the environment than previously thought.

Tests on birds like this wood thrush found in the Catskills last year indicate that mercury may be a hazard in woods as well as in state waters.

The biologist, David C. Evers, who is also executive director of the Biodiversity Research Institute, a nonprofit ecological organization in Gorham, Me., said that his preliminary findings challenged existing perceptions about how far mercury travels, how it interacts with the environment and how it affects various forms of wildlife — all with worrisome implications for people.

While mercury has often been found in lakes and streams and in fish, Dr. Evers’s work documents the unexpected presence of the chemical in birds that do not live on water and never eat fish.

“Impacts on biological diversity usually show impacts on human health,” Dr. Evers said in a telephone interview. “If these birds are having trouble, that should be a very good indicator of a risk to our own well-being and health as well.”

Catherine H. Bowes, Northeast mercury program manager for the National Wildlife Federation, called the results of the songbird study “eye opening” and said they helped expand understanding of mercury contamination.

“It makes a compelling case for reducing mercury pollution from local sources, as New York is doing,” Ms. Bowes said.

Global warming spurs surge in western wildfires

For more, see http://www.sciencemag.org/sciencexpress/recent.dtl

Gasp! Ozone Limits Don't Protect Babies

from SCIENCE NEWS

By Raloff, Janet ENVIRONMENT

In healthy infants, even ozone concentrations well below those allowed by federal law trigger asthmalike symptoms, a new study shows.

The finding indicates that federal limits on this pervasive pollutant, a prime constituent of smog, don't protect infants "from rather severe respiratory symptoms," says epidemiologist Elizabeth W. Triche of the Yale University School of Medicine.

Triche's team recruited 691 women with 3-to-5-month-old infants from nonsmoking households around Roanoke, Va. Sixty-one moms had asthma, signaling that their babies were at high risk for developing the disease.

The researchers collected daily respiratory data, as reported by the mothers, on all the children for 8.3 days in summer- the peak ozone season-and then correlated the infant's symptoms with outdoor measurements of several air pollutants. As ozone values climbed, so did the risk of wheezing and troubled breathing in the babies, Triches team reports in the June Environmental Health Perspectives.

The other pollutants, such as fine particulates. didn't show that correlation. For each 11.8 parts per billion (ppb) increase in average daily concentrations in ozone, the likelihood of wheezing increased by 41 percent in all the infants and 91 percent in those with asthmatic moms. Each 11.8 ppb increase in ozone also increased the risk of labored breathing by almost 30 percent for all kids and more than doubled it in babies with asthmatic moms.

These findings dovetail with those that Triche's group reported 3 years ago in 6-to-12-year-old children. The big difference: Those children had asthma. In the new infant study, she notes, "children were not asthmatic." -J.R.

Global warming -- yes, it's real!

The list of doubters has gotten pretty short, and the National Research Council has weighed in: the last few decades have been the hottest in at least 400 years. -- and maybe a lot longer than that.

For more, see
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=11676

Unfortunately, even the best scientific evidence doesn't seem to be enough to win over the professional political doubters, led by Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX).

Another reason to worry about global warming: poison ivy!

Duke University researchers report that poison ivy grows bigger and faster as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere rise.

The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA,Environmental Sciences-Biological SciencesBiomass and toxicity responses of poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) to elevated atmospheric CO2
( global change forest ecology Rhus radicans ) Jacqueline E. Mohan *, Lewis H. Ziska ¶, William H. Schlesinger *, Richard B. Thomas **, Richard C. Sicher ¶, Kate George ¶, and James S. Clark *
*Department of Biology and Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708; Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138; Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543; ¶Agricultural Research Service, Crop Systems, and Global Change Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705; and **Department of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506
Contributed by William H. Schlesinger, April 22, 2006
Contact with poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) is one of the most widely reported ailments at poison centers in the United States, and this plant has been introduced throughout the world, where it occurs with other allergenic members of the cashew family (Anacardiaceae). Approximately 80% of humans develop dermatitis upon exposure to the carbon-based active compound, urushiol. It is not known how poison ivy might respond to increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), but previous work done in controlled growth chambers shows that other vines exhibit large growth enhancement from elevated CO2. Rising CO2 is potentially responsible for the increased vine abundance that is inhibiting forest regeneration and increasing tree mortality around the world. In this 6-year study at the Duke University Free-Air CO2 Enrichment experiment, we show that elevated atmospheric CO2 in an intact forest ecosystem increases photosynthesis, water use efficiency, growth, and population biomass of poison ivy. The CO2 growth stimulation exceeds that of most other woody species. Furthermore, high-CO2 plants produce a more allergenic form of urushiol. Our results indicate that Toxicodendron taxa will become more abundant and more "toxic" in the future, potentially affecting global forest dynamics and human health.

NOAA Predicts Bad Hurricane Season Ahead

Warm sea temperatures cited...


SUMMARY

The outlook calls for a very active 2006 season, with 13-16 named storms, 8-10 hurricanes, and 4-6 major hurricanes. The likely range of the ACE index is 135%-205% of the median. This prediction indicates a continuation of above-normal activity that began in 1995. However, we do not currently expect a repeat of last year’s record season.



http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/outlooks/hurricane.shtml

New research warns of danger from ultra-fine particles

from the Riverside Press-Enterprise Newspaper -- May 2, 2006


Tiny bits a big problemDeadliest pollution still unregulated
Andrew Silva, Staff writer


A whole new layer of regulations may be needed to deal with the tiniest and most dangerous bits of air pollution, as scientists released another study Monday showing children who live next to busy roads are twice as likely to have asthma symptoms.

"This is a major health issue," said John Froines, director of the Southern California Particle Center, during a conference in Los Angeles on ultrafine particles.

Ultrafine particles are unregulated, and are so small they can actually penetrate into cells, carrying toxic compounds right to a person's DNA and other critical areas.

As regulators struggle to scrub the air clean during a time of explosive growth in the diesel-powered shipping industry, scientists continue to warn that pollution from diesel sources is by far the most deadly. And the smaller the particle, the greater the danger.

"Ultrafines possess the greatest toxic potential compared to other particles," Froines said.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District will begin an in-depth examination of ultrafine particles in its next air quality management plan this year, said Barry Wallerstein, executive officer of the region's smog-fighting agency.

Regulations to control the toxic flecks of pollution are expected to follow in the next few years.
The study on asthma and roads, published this month in the journal "Environmental Health Perspectives," looked at more than 5,000 children, ages 5 to 7, who live in 13 Southern California communities .

It found those who live within about 80 yards of a major road are 50 percent more likely to have had asthma symptoms in the previous year than those who live farther away.

The study dovetails with previous research showing concentrations of ultrafine particles are greatest near roadways and drop off dramatically with distance.

"Ultrafines may be the cause" of respiratory problems, said Rob McConnell, one of the study's authors and a professor at USC.

Restrictions are in place for larger particles, those 10 microns in diameter, or PM10, which is about one-seventh the diameter of a human hair, and the smaller PM2.5. A micron is one-millionth of a meter, or about the thickness of a dime sliced 1,000 times.

The regulations may be having a strange side effect.

Reductions in larger particles may actually spur an increase in the number of ultrafine particles, scientists said.

"Little particles attach to larger particles," Froines said. If you lower the number of big particles, there are fewer for the small particles to glom onto, he said.

That phenomenon has scientists calling for a change in the way particulates are measured.

Currently, particles are regulated by their mass, which is to say the particles in a cubic meter of air are basically weighed.
Instead, the particles should be counted, which is now being done in Europe.

Global warming threatens walrus

We've heard about the threat global warming poses for polar bears. Now a new study says it could also threaten the walrus.

In a new study funded by the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research, scientists have reported an unprecedented number of unaccompanied and possibly abandoned walrus calves in the Arctic Ocean, where melting sea ice may be forcing mothers to abandon their pups as the mothers follow the rapidly retreating ice edge north.

Nine lone walrus calves were reported swimming in deep waters far from shore by researchers aboard the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy during a cruise in the Canada Basin in the summer of 2004. Unable to forage for themselves, the calves were likely to drown or starve, the scientists said.

Lone walrus calves far from shore have not been described before, the researchers report in the April issue of Aquatic Mammals. The sightings suggest that increased polar warming may lead to decreases in the walrus population.

Bush Admin. to use more politics, less science, in setting clean-air standards

The Bush administration is moving to use more politics and less science in the setting of national
clean air standards.

The current scientific process of setting standards – a process that has worked well for decades – would be replaced by a more political process. And this is specifically designed to prevent EPA career scientists from recommending tighter standards for ozone, or smog. (The agency is reviewing this standard under a court agreement; and recent science has found a strong link between breathing smog and dying early.)

The current process involves scientific interaction between EPA staff scientists and its outside science advisers. Draft staff paper reviewed by science advisers. Staff paper revision, another review by science advisers, etc.

Under the new process, EPA would deal with the issue like any other rulemaking – including early involvement by OMB. The outside science advisers would not be brought into the process until later in the game. As a result, the process will become more political, and less scientific. And EPA’s career scientists would not be able to frame the issues.

The Bush administration feels it was embarrassed because on the particle soot question, it was boxed in: both EPA career staff and the outside science advisers recommended something tougher than the White House wants. That has led to terrible pr. The Bush administration wants to make sure that never happens again.

The Cost of Pollution in San Joaquin Valley, CA

A Valley's Smog Toll Tallied (Los Angeles Times)

In the San Joaquin, resulting health costs are $3.2 billion a year, a Cal State Fullerton study finds. That much would be gained by cleaner air.

By Janet Wilson, Times Staff WriterMarch 30, 2006

Smog in the San Joaquin Valley is responsible for $3.2 billion annually in health costs, according to findings released Wednesday by a Cal State Fullerton team.The lion's share of those costs — an estimated $3 billion — is tied to 460 smog-related deaths each year. Other major factors are school and work absences, hospital admissions and treatment for bronchitis and other illnesses.

The team concluded that the valley — with air quality that ranks among the worst in the nation, along with Los Angeles and Houston — would save more than $3 billion if it came into compliance with federal and state ozone and particulate standards."The results are important because it gives people a concrete sense of what price people pay for dirty air, and the flip side of that is the economic benefits of moving more quickly to achieve … air quality standards," said the study's lead author, Jane Hall, a professor of economics and co-director of the Institute for Economics and Environmental Studies at Cal State Fullerton.

Savings would come from 188,000 fewer school absences, an equal number of reduced-activity days for adults, 23,000 fewer asthma attacks, and reductions in hospital admissions, acute bronchitis and other health problems.The study found that although the entire valley suffered from bad air throughout the year because of its unique topography and weather, poor communities in Kern and Fresno counties were hit hardest by pollution and its costs.

Major sources of the air pollution include agricultural equipment as well as truck and car traffic along the 99 and 5 freeways.The research team did similar studies on the economic benefits of reducing air pollution in the Los Angeles Basin 18 years ago, and in Houston and San Francisco since then.

The bulk of the savings comes from preventing premature deaths from cancer, heart attack and other ailments from chronic exposure to particulates, according to study coauthor Victor Brajer, an economics professor at Cal State Fullerton.Brajer said longtime workplace studies show that wages are higher where there is a greater risk of death.

He also said other studies indicate that people spend more on consumer safety products where mortality risks are greater. Such costs are averaged together to arrive at an overall per-capita figure. Similar estimates are now also used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and others in research on costs and benefits of reducing air pollution.

Air regulators said the studies have been widely used to counteract claims by businesses that controlling air pollution costs too much and would lead to catastrophic economic losses."A large part of the economic consequences of air pollution come from Jane Hall, from the studies that she and her staff have done over the years," said California Air Resources Board spokesman Jerry Martin.

He said air regulators in the Los Angeles Basin in particular were "under enormous pressure" in the late 1980s from manufacturers and other industries threatening to move away if they were required to implement costly air pollution control measures until Hall's study provided a counterbalance showing substantial economic benefits to reducing air pollution.

Additionally, he said the state air board in the mid-1990s faced "draconian" proposals by the federal government that could have cost billions more to implement, but that Hall's work showed the state plan was the most cost-effective.

Kelly Morphy, spokeswoman for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, said the study could still be helpful to her agency's efforts to secure tougher regulations from state and federal air regulators of vehicle emissions in the valley. "I think we've turned that corner in that the businesses and industry in the San Joaquin Valley understand that they play an important role in cleaning up the air," she said. "But where we are now because of the unique topography and weather issues in the valley is we need more controls than the local air district has the authority to adopt.

The bulk of the emissions, especially when we talk about summertime pollution, is from mobile sources, from cars and trucks." Sam Atwood, spokesman for the South Coast Air Quality Management District, said Hall's study of the Los Angeles Basin "was really one of the first times we had a very scientific and methodical approach to quantifying the health benefits of cleaning up the air." He said the district's 2003 air pollution control plan, now in effect, found average yearly benefits of complying with state and federal air standards to total an estimated $6.4 billion, while total costs were $3.25 billion.

Global Warming -- Why It's Worse Than We Thought

In the March 24, 2006 issue of Science Magazine:

http://www.sciencemag.org/sciext/ice/#section_this-week