New research shows that people prefer coronavirus contact tracing to be carried out by a combination of apps and humans. The research shows people are more concerned about who runs the process than the risks of others having unauthorised access to their private information, or their data being stolen. Most people who took part in…

Wildlife agencies throughout western North America have set increasingly more conservative harvest regulations over the past 25 years to conserve sage grouse, with mixed results for bird numbers. Research led by University of Wyoming Professor Jeff Beck and Oregon State University Assistant Professor Jonathan Dinkins, a former UW postdoctoral researcher, examined the history of grouse…

Researchers investigated disparities in exposure to six major air pollutants in 1990, 2000 and 2010 by comparing models of air pollution levels to census data. While overall pollutant concentrations have decreased since 1990, people of color are still more likely to be exposed to all six pollutants than white people, regardless of income level, across…

To prevent the spread of COVID-19 indoors, the two meters physical distancing guideline is not enough without masks, according to researchers. However, wearing a mask indoors can reduce the contamination range of airborne particles by about 67 percent. «Mask mandates and good ventilation are critically important to curb the spread of more contagious strains of…

A new study finds that U.S. residents struggle to understand terms frequently used by scientists to describe climate change. The study was published in a special edition of Climatic Change titled Climate Change Communication and the IPCC. The study was spearheaded by the USC Dornsife Public Exchange and included a team of USC researchers and…

A new analysis of the River Ganges in West Bengal, India, highlights how wastewater flowing into the river impacts its water quality, and how that influence shifts with seasons and tides. Flowing through India and Bangladesh, the Ganges is the most sacred river in Hinduism. However, wastewater from nearby cities severely pollutes the river. The…

A new study has found that infants born within three kilometers of oil and natural gas drilling facilities in Texas had slightly lower birthweights than those born before drilling began in their vicinity. The study, published today in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, found that the type of drilling or resource being extracted did not…

Observational data shows air pollution in India decreased drastically in the first COVID-19 lockdown when emissions from vehicles naturally declined, but researchers say those numbers only tell part of the story — blue skies and an absence of visible smog can be deceiving and hide pollutants that could potentially cause health issues. Air pollution results…

Researchers have modeled that pollutant emissions from the shipping sector increased significantly in major international seaports during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings serve as a stark contrast against findings[1] from the NASA Earth Observatory that the freeze in industrial processes and human activity arising from the pandemic resulted in generally lower air pollution. In Singapore,…

Reduced mobility induced by the COVID-19 restrictions had only minor influence on particulate pollution levels, according to atmosphere studies in the Po Valley region of northern Italy. Eventually computer simulations indicated that the change in air quality led to an increase in secondary aerosol formation. Scientists have combined air quality measurements and computer simulation data…