Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: smog

smog stories: 14 news summaries
glossies

 Electric Bikes 
 Take Off 
 in China 


Jun 14, 09 7:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Chinese drivers are seeing a new vehicle zip by on the nation's congested, smog-choked freeways: electric bicycles, Austin Ramzy writes in Time. Promoted by the government as affordable solutions to cars, so-called e-bikes are growing in popularity, offering a green solution to the country's automobile boom. About 21 million e-bikes... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • environment • smog • green • automobile • electric bicycle

 Ozone Kills, Slowly: Study 

High-level areas like LA face 50% increase in risk of death from respiratory illness

Mar 12, 09 2:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - Long-term exposure to ozone can greatly increase the risk of death from respiratory diseases, the Los Angeles Times reports. An 18-year study of half a million people in 96 cities found that an increase of 10 parts per billion in ozone concentrations correlated to a 4% increase in deaths from... More »

MORE ABOUT:
California • pollution • Los Angeles • Riverside • smog • ozone • respiratory problems • EPA

 Smog Bad for
 Your Appendix: Study 

Researchers saw more cases of appendicitis on days with poor air quality

Oct 6, 08 3:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - Pollution may boost your chances of getting appendicitis, the BBC reports. A Canadian study suggests that human tissue—such as the appendix—gets more inflamed on days when the ozone level is high; patients were 15% more likely to be hospitalized on bad-air days, researchers found. Infections can cause appendicitis—... More »

MORE ABOUT:
pollution • surgery • smog • ozone • air pollution • appendicitis

 Heavy Smog Greets Olympians

 Despite traffic restrictions, skies hazy as always

Jul 27, 08 5:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Beijing has just 12 days left to clear its skies before the start of the Summer Olympics and things are still looking mighty smoggy, reports the AP. Visibility was a mere half-mile in some parts of the city and the Athletes’ Village was invisible from the nearby Olympic Green, despite... More »

MORE ABOUT:
pollution • Beijing • 2008 Beijing Olympics • smog • Olympic Games • air pollution

Global Warming Caused by
... Cleaner Skies: Study

Pollution crackdown has let more sunlight in, making Europe toastier, scientists say

Jul 10, 08 4:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - Reducing aerosols and other pollutants has been a major part of Europe’s campaign to reduce global warming, but a new study turns conventional thinking on its head, New Scientist reports. "The decrease in aerosols probably accounts for at least half of the warming over Europe in the last... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • greenhouse gases • global warming • Europe • meteorology • smog • air pollution • aerosol

China Falls Behind on Olympic Promises

Despite vows, not much change on air quality, political freedom

Jul 8, 08 2:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - With exactly a month to go before the Olympics, China has not delivered on promises to improve Beijing’s air quality or allow foreign journalists open access, the BBC reports. The government vowed to bring Beijing’s air up to WHO standards when bidding for the Games, but a BBC... More »

MORE ABOUT:
pollution • Beijing • 2008 Beijing Olympics • smog • journalist • air pollution • political freedoms • repression


 IOC: Beijing Air Risky
 for Athletes 

Competitors in endurance events

Mar 17, 08 6:51 PM CDT
(Newser) - The air quality in Beijing poses a “possible risk” to athletes in endurance events, the International Olympic Committee announced today. After analyzing data collected in Beijing in August, the IOC’s medical commission concluded that most competitors won't be affected by the smog, but it will monitor air quality... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • pollution • Beijing • 2008 Beijing Olympics • smog • air pollution • International Olympic Committee • endurance sports

Bush Stepped
In to Weaken Ozone Rules

President overruled EPA scientists on pollution guidelines

Mar 14, 08 11:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - President Bush personally intervened this week to loosen the EPA's new guidelines on pollution-causing ozone, the Washington Post reports. By law, separate ozone standards are mandated for protecting the "public health" and the "public welfare," which includes wildlife, parks, and farmland. According to EPA documents, Bush... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Bush administration • environment • Environmental Protection Agency • smog • ozone • executive power • George W. Bush • clean air

 EPA Ignores Advisers
 on Pollution Cap

Sets higher limit than own experts' recommendations

Mar 13, 08 7:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Ignoring the recommendations of its own scientists, the Environmental Protection Agency yesterday reset standards for pollution-forming ozone from cars and factories at a level critics say may cost thousands of lives. The new cap is lower than the old level but still far above the limit urged by EPA experts,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
pollution • Clean Air Act • nitrogen oxides • Environmental Protection Agency • American Lung Association • smog • ozone • air quality • utilities • Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee • National Association of Clean Air Agencies • Edison Electric Institute

Olympians Prepare Strategies for Beijing Smog

China promises clean air for Games, but teams are taking precautions

Jan 24, 08 1:22 PM CST
(Newser) - With the Summer Olympics set to begin Aug. 8 in one of the world’s smoggiest cities, competitors are looking for a Beijing edge. US athletes have been asking if they should train near busy highways to simulate Beijing’s noxious air, the New York Times reports, but trainers are... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • 2008 Beijing Olympics • smog • air pollution

Gassy Kudzu Choking South

Quick-spreading vine emitting greenhouse gas

Dec 4, 07 8:10 PM CST
(Newser) - It's nicknamed "the vine that ate the South," but experts now warn that the fast-spreading invasive plant is choking more than just power lines, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Scientists have found that the plant emits ozone, making smog worse, leading to health problems—and speeding up climate change. More »

MORE ABOUT:
pollution • public health • smog • ozone • air pollution • kudzu

Calif. Town Is Nation's Smoggiest

Air above tiny Arvin is a magnet for pollutants

Aug 10, 07 3:13 PM CDT
(Newser) - Arvin, Calif., proves that you don’t need factories or freeways to have America’s worst air pollution. The agricultural town’s mountain locale collects pollution, the AP reports, giving the air a toxic smell and raising health concerns. The EPA uses the ozone level to gauge smog across the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
California • pollution • Environmental Protection Agency • air • smog • ozone • San Joaquin Valley • Arvin • air pollution

Beijing Smog May Postpone Olympic Events

With exactly 1 year
to go, China scrambles to reduce pollution

Aug 8, 07 12:53 PM CDT
(Newser) - The air pollution in Beijing is so bad that some 2008 Olympic events may have to be postponed. IOC president Jacques Rogge is worried about participants in endurance events like cycling because air quality remains dismal despite government efforts, such as shutting down factories, to improve it. Construction for the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • pollution • Beijing • 2008 Beijing Olympics • smog • Jacques Rogge • Olympic Games • air pollution

Smog Cloud Menaces Asia

Asian Brown Cloud is melting Himalayan glaciers

Aug 3, 07 1:34 PM CDT
(Newser) - An enormous cloud of smog over southern Asia threatens 2 billion people with flooding and drought, a new study shows. The "Asian Brown Cloud" is melting Himalayan glaciers, the Times of London reports, and the resulting floods will menace heavily populated downstream areas. And the cloud's driving up temperatures... More »

MORE ABOUT:
pollution • drought • global warming • Asia • flood • glacier • Asian Brown Cloud • smog • Himalayas • air pollution

14 Stories


from our news partners