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    • Huge rise in birth defects in Falluja.
      Doctors in Iraq's war-ravaged enclave of Falluja are dealing with up to 15 times as many chronic deformities in infants and a spike in early life cancers that may be linked to toxic materials left over from the fighting.
    • China faces reckoning over lead production.
      Since late summer, there has been a spate of lead poisoning cases in Hunan, Henan, Yunnan and Shanxi provinces. More than 3,200 cases have been confirmed, most of them in children. Now, thousands of Chinese are trying to flee a landscape poisoned by decades of lead manufacturing.
    • 'Catastrophic' e-waste fuels global toxic dump.
      A "catastrophic accumulation" of millions of tonnes of "e-waste" from computers, cellphones and television sets is fuelling a global pile of hazardous waste, an international body warned Friday.
    • Earth, wind or fire.
      Britain's power is now relatively clean. Per head, Britons produce half the CO2 emissions of Australians. Could Australia achieve the same? Could we simply shut down coal-fired power generation and replace it with something else?
    • Boeing suit seeks to set aside higher standard.
      The Boeing Co. filed suit Friday to scuttle a state law requiring the highest cleanup standards at one of the nation's most polluted sites. It contends that only the federal government, not the state of California, has the authority to oversee cleanup at nuclear energy sites.
    • CO2 and carbon sinks.
      Carbon dioxide is the primary perpetrator of climate change, and most efforts to slow global warming go into preventing CO2 production and aiding CO2 absorption. But a new study suggests that the more CO2 we make, the more nature absorbs. So do we really need all those rainforests?
    • Big profit from nature protection.
      Money invested in protecting nature can bring huge financial returns, according to a major investigation into the costs and benefits of the natural world.
    • Brookfield natives expose bottled water industry.
      By 2030, two-thirds of the world's citizens will not have access to clean drinking water, according to the United Nations. Thirty-five states in the U.S. are experiencing drought now. One of the causes of the impending water crisis is something millions of Americans use every day -- bottled water.
    • Blizzard renews storm over China making snow.
      Heavy snowfall in northern China is testing the country's disaster preparedness and prompting fresh questions about Beijing's efforts to alter its weather. China's water supply relative to its 1.3 billion-person population is roughly a fourth the world's average, and the shortage is worse in the north.
    • Restoring China's disappearing wetlands.
      The Sanjiang Plain Wetlands, China's largest freshwater wetlands, are disappearing at a frightening speed after decades of agricultural conversion. Scientists link increased droughts, floods and sandstorms afflicting northern China in recent years to the shrinking wetlands.
    • Arab experts predict Mideast water wars.
      There is a widely held fear in the Middle East that global warming, dwindling water resources and burgeoning populations will trigger wars over water in the not-too-distant future.
    • Plastic roads offer greener way to travel in India.
      For two of India’s biggest problems, battered roads and overflowing landfills, Ahmed Khan has a single solution: streets made with recycled plastic.
    • Turtle tours, and turtles, are casualties of climate change in Costa Rica.
      Warmer temperatures and rising seas that scientists link to global warming have vastly diminished the turtle population that has dwelt in the Pacific for 150 million years.
    • Navy’s Vieques training may be tied to health risks.
      The federal agency that assesses health hazards at sites designated for Superfund environmental cleanups said it had reversed its conclusion that contamination posed no risks to residents in Puerto Rico.
    • GE: Magazine wrong, PCB cleanup working.
      General Electric Co. hit back at a Harper's Magazine article critical of its handling of the Hudson River dredging project, with a point-by-point disputation of the story.
    • Town that lost its water.
      Twenty years ago, Elmira discovered that industrial chemicals from the Uniroyal factory had poisoned the town’s water supply. A groundwater cleanup is planned to conclude in 2028 but now, halfway through the process, fresh debate has erupted over whether it is working.
    • Chicago canal to be poisoned to stop Asian carp.
      A $1.5 million project's goal is to temporarily kill a 6-mile stretch of river with poison so a new electric fish barrier can be briefly shut down for maintenance. It is a drastic attempt to keep Asian carp from invading Lake Michigan.
    • Obama's pesticide-pushing nominee.
      The administration has nominated a senior executive from the pesticide lobby—which slammed Michelle Obama's organic garden—to be chief agricultural negotiator for the office of the US Trade Representative. If confirmed, he will be responsible for negotiating international agreements governing the use of pesticides.
    • If EPA's Air chief loves a brawl, she's come to the right place .
      U.S. EPA air chief Gina McCarthy has a thick Boston accent, a shock of cropped white hair and a penchant for a good fight. As the nation's top air regulator she may be in the center of a political free-for-all over climate regulation and other air pollution policies.
    • Industry groups want to restart legal battle over smog standard.
      Industry groups and the state of Mississippi are asking a federal appeals court to move forward on legal proceedings over national smog limits, despite U.S. EPA's plans to reconsider the George W. Bush administration's controversial standard.
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Long-Term Solution Needed for Beijing Air Quality Improvements

Posted on Thursday, 24 July 2008 by neeners01

A study by Streets, Fu, Jang, Hao, He, Tang et al. (2007) proved that the rapid economic growth in China has actually reversed any progress toward air pollution reduction before the August Olympics commence. In fact, this study actually determined that Beijing itself wasn’t the highest polluter but industries in the outlying areas caused more [...]

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Canine influenza: A newly emerging infectious disease

Posted on Tuesday, 22 July 2008 by global21st

Influenza viruses are currently known to cause respiratory disease in humans, pigs, poultry, and horses. Avian influenza has certainly been a major topic in the news in the past several years. But recently, a new influenza A subtype known as H3N8 has emerged as a cause of respiratory infection in dogs. This canine virus first [...]

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Olympic Athletes Take Beijing Pollution Issues Seriously

Posted on Sunday, 20 July 2008 by neeners01

Despite reports that air pollution in Beijing has improved, medical professionals claim that the efforts underway will not make enough of a difference for many endurance athletes to perform well and remain healthy.
During a track meet in Beijing last year, American triathlete competitor Matt Reed claimed the air pollution triggered his asthma attack. Another American [...]

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Four Years, Little Progress on Beijing Air Quality

Posted on Saturday, 19 July 2008 by neeners01

For four years, Beijing officials have known their air quality contains toxic levels beyond acceptable levels. For four years, Olympic officials have known the main causes of the unhealthy air quality in Beijing. For four years, the problems have been identified and solutions noted. For four years, focus has remained on the Olympic infrastructure. Where [...]

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Management of Recycled Water Irrigation

Posted on Thursday, 10 July 2008 by mjavaherian

The need for water conservation has increased throughout the US, with particular emphasis on locations which rely heavily on subsurface groundwater resources. This need stems from increasing future water demands due to growing populations, depleting potable water resources due to historical increases in demands and/or drought conditions, and increased degradation of water quality. [...]

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