Pollution Control

Rising chemicals output a hazard, clean-up needed by 2020 -UN

Author: 

Alister Doyle
Rising chemicals output a hazard, clean-up needed by 2020 -UN
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Sep 5 , 2012

 

 

* Rising share of chemicals produced in emerging economies

* Poisonings among leading causes of death -UNEP

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Climate change: Arctic passes 400 parts per million milestone

Author: 

Seth Borenstein
Climate change: Arctic passes 400 parts per million milestone
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Arctic monitoring stations show carbon dioxide levels are now above 400 parts per million. Carbon dioxide is the chief climate-change gas and stays in the atmosphere for 100 years. Before the Industrial Age, carbon dioxide levels were 275 ppm.

The world's air has reached what scientists call a troubling new milestone for carbon dioxide, the main global warming pollutant.

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Plan now for climate-related disasters - U.N. report

Author: 

David Fogarty and Deborah Zabarenko
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* Rising population, development put more in harm's way

* Policymakers urged to act in next few decades

* Less emphasis on mitigation, more on cutting risk

By David Fogarty and Deborah Zabarenko  

March 28 (Reuters) - A future on Earth of more extreme weather and rising seas will require better planning for natural disasters to save lives and limit deepening economic losses, the United Nations said on Wednesday in a major report on the effects of climate change. 

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Pollution in China: Man-made and visible from space

Pollution in China: Man-made and visible from space
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 “PM2.5” seems an odd and wonky term for the blogosphere to take up, but that is precisely what has happened in China in recent weeks. It refers to the smallest solid particles in the atmosphere—those less than 2.5 microns across. Such dust can get deep into people’s lungs; far deeper than that rated as PM10. Yet until recently China’s authorities have revealed measurements only for PM10. When people realised this, an online revolt broke out. Such was the public pressure that authorities caved in, and PM2.5 data are now being published for Beijing and a handful of other cities.

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Can Smarter Growth Guide China’s Urban Building Boom?

Author: 

david biello
Can Smarter Growth Guide China’s Urban Building Boom?
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The world has never seen anything like China’s dizzying urbanization boom, which has taken a heavy environmental toll. But efforts are now underway to start using principles of green design and smart growth to guide the nation’s future development.

Coal money, generated by one of the world’s largest open-pit mines, has built a new Ordos, a municipality in the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia.

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U.S. will lead new effort to cut global warming from methane, soot

Author: 

Brian Vastag
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With global efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions stalled, the United States and five other countries are starting a new program to cut other pollutants — including methane, soot and hydrofluorocarbons — that contribute to global warming.

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Unicef says urban children in developing world need urgent attention

Author: 

Alex Duval Smith
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On another beach in a different world, Chinasa Paul would be sipping a soft drink bought by his parents. But if the 15-year-old eats today in Lagos, it will be thanks to tips he receives for lugging crates of drinks up and down Kuramo Beach.

Unicef will today call for an urgent shift in focus by policy makers neglectful of the needs of millions of children like Chinasa whose number is set to increase as the growth of cities in the developing world becomes one of the pressing issues of our time.

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Climate concerns as ‘ozone-friendly’ HFCs use grows

Author: 

Mark Kinver
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A rise in the use of "ozone-friendly" HFCs has prompted experts to voice concerns that the potent greenhouse gases could be a problem in the future.

A UN report says that HFCs, many more times potent than CO2, could account for up to 20% of emissions and hamper efforts to curb climate change.

They are widely used in fridges and air conditioning, replacing CFCs and HCFCs that damage the Earth's ozone layer.

The findings were presented during a meeting on protecting the ozone layer.

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