A New Go Ultra Low cost calculator finds that the typical 100% electric car in the UK could cost on average just 3p per mile to run. That is a notable bit of savings compared to 9p for the comparable diesel car. The first savings, in my experience, regard the smell, the lack of particulate exposure, and freedom from the filmy dirty feeling of gas in the car and in the air.
Lower sperm quality in men and exposure to particulate matter air pollution are linked, according to a new study published in BMJ Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
The story regarding the tax bill Republicans are set to pass in Congress tomorrow is wickedly clear: It cuts taxes on the super rich and that loss in US government revenue will later be pulled from normal Americans in the form of cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, public infrastructure investments, public education investments, etc.
2017 has been an interesting year for electric vehicles (EV). We’ve seen more EVs on the road and at auto shows internationally, but affordability hasn’t changed that much. Worse yet, in the US, the new administration has been on a rampage returning to the good old polluting days, with carmakers colluding and allowing the environment to be further damaged.
This is a story of what can happen when enough people get together and tell politicians enough is enough. Next: Net Neutrality and other environmental topics?
At least 17 million babies around the world reside in areas where outdoor air pollution levels are 6 times higher than recommended limits, possibly harming brain and lung development, UNICEF has revealed.
Remember Dieselgate? Independent researchers in West Virginia strapped a portable exhaust gas analyzer to a Volkswagen turbodiesel and found its tailpipe emissions were way out of whack with the results obtained in laboratory testing. That one finding has now cost Volkswagen more than $20 billion in fines and penalties and that total is still rising. Now, BMW may be the next company to find itself in the fake diesel emissions soup.
So many of us suffer from nature deficit: we spend lots of time indoors, staring at screens both large and small. This is tiring to our brains and our eyeballs, and keeps us from enjoying a connection with trees, plants, and open space.
With the understanding that taking a break in nature is good for our brains and our productivity, an innovative California-based company called Farmscape is working to bring greenery and farming into corporate and urban landscapes.
“People living in Small Island Developing States are on the frontline of extreme weather events, rising sea levels and increased risk of infectious disease,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. “We owe it to these people to do everything we can to help them prepare for the future that is already washing up on their shores.”
Berlin (Germany) and China are working with nature to create sponge cities that absorb rainwater and cool the city. Even without the challenges of climate change, cities would do well to consider the benefits of imitating natural ecosystems to cool down and store rainwater, a precious resource. With problems from climate change in urban areas, such as increased flooding and more extreme heatwaves, the need to develop “sponge cities” is essential.
As one breathes in the pure air, the lungs and the immune system refresh, invigorate, and oxygenate our blood. As we breathe in dirty particulates, toxins, and fumes, the organs of our body have too much to deal with and are overwhelmed. The dense gray matter does not merely go away inside. What happens to it? Conditions such as premature death and cancer may occur. The human body’s major organs all work together in a healthy constitution. Once the lungs are polluted, the overload of toxicity can profoundly affect every organ of the body. The impact of air pollution on bone loss, bone fracture, and osteoporosis is another concern to understand (and respond to with clean air initiatives).
