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Flying home for Christmas? Carbon offsets are important, but they won’t fix plane pollution

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/susanne-becken-90437">Susanne Becken</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brendan-mackey-152282">Brendan Mackey</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a></em></p> <p>Australia is an important player in the global tourism business. In 2016, <a href="https://www.tra.gov.au/research/research">8.7 million visitors arrived in Australia and 8.8 million Australians went overseas</a>. A further 33.5 million overnight trips were made domestically.</p> <p>But all this travel comes at a cost. According to the <a href="http://tourismdashboard.org/explore-the-data/carbon-emissions/">Global Sustainable Tourism Dashboard</a>, all Australian domestic trips and one-way international journeys (the other half is attributed to the end point of travel) amount to 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide for 2016. That is 2.7% of global aviation emissions, despite a population of only 0.3% of the global total.</p> <p>The peak month of air travel in and out of Australia is December. Christmas is the time where people travel to see friends and family, or to go on holiday. More and more people are <a href="http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/analysis-of-a-119-country-survey-predicts-global-climate-change-awareness/">aware of the carbon implications of their travel</a> and want to know whether, for example, they should purchase carbon offsets or not.</p> <p>Our <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969699716302538">recent study in the Journal of Air Transport Management</a> showed that about one third of airlines globally offer some form of carbon offsetting to their customers. However, the research also concluded that the information provided to customers is often insufficient, dated and possibly misleading. Whilst local airlines <a href="https://www.qantasfutureplanet.com.au/#aboutus">Qantas</a>, <a href="https://www.virginaustralia.com/nz/en/about-us/sustainability/carbon-offset-program/">Virgin Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/sustainability-customer-carbon-offset">Air New Zealand</a> have relatively advanced and well-articulated carbon offset programs, others fail to offer scientifically robust explanations and accredited mechanisms that ensure that the money spent on an offset generates some real climate benefits.</p> <p>The notion of carbon compensation is actually more difficult than people might think. To help explain why carbon offsetting does make an important climate contribution, but at the same time still adds to atmospheric carbon, we created an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsh-erzGlR0">animated video clip</a>.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xsh-erzGlR0?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption><span class="caption">Jack’s journey.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>The video features Jack, a concerned business traveller who begins purchasing carbon credits. However, he comes to the realisation that the carbon emissions from his flights are still released into the atmosphere, despite the credit.</p> <p>The concept of “carbon neutral” promoted by airline offsets means that an equal amount of emissions is avoided elsewhere, but it does not mean there is no carbon being emitted at all – just relatively less compared with the scenario of not offsetting (where someone else continues to emit, in addition to the flight).</p> <p>This means that, contrary to many promotional and educational materials (see <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGB2OAg5ffA">here</a> for instance), carbon offsetting will not reduce overall carbon emissions. Trading emissions means that we are merely maintaining status quo.</p> <p>A steep reduction, however, is what’s required by every sector if we were to reach the net-zero emissions goal by 2050, agreed on in the <a href="http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9485.php">Paris Agreement</a>.</p> <p>Carbon offsetting is already an important “<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517714000910">polluter pays</a>” mechanism for travellers who wish to contribute to climate mitigation. But it is also about to be institutionalised at large scale through the new UN-run <a href="https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Pages/market-based-measures.aspx">Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA)</a>.</p> <p>CORSIA will come into force in 2021, when participating airlines will have to purchase carbon credits for emissions above 2020 levels on certain routes.</p> <p>The availability of carbon credits and their integrity is of major concern, as well as how they align with national obligations and mechanisms agreed in the Paris Agreement. Of particular interest is <a href="http://www.carbon-mechanisms.de/en/introduction/the-paris-agreement-and-article-6/">Article 6</a>, which allows countries to cooperate in meeting their climate commitments, including by “trading” emissions reductions to count towards a national target.</p> <p>The recent COP23 in Bonn highlighted that CORSIA is widely seen as a potential source of billions of dollars for offset schemes, supporting important climate action. Air travel may provide an important intermediate source of funds, but ultimately the aviation sector, just like anyone else, will have to reduce their own emissions. This will mean major advances in technology – and most likely a contraction in the fast expanding global aviation market.</p> <h2>Travelling right this Christmas</h2> <p>In the meantime, and if you have booked your flights for Christmas travel, you can do the following:</p> <ul> <li> <p>pack light (every kilogram will cost additional fuel)</p> </li> <li> <p>minimise carbon emissions whilst on holiday (for instance by biking or walking once you’re there), and</p> </li> <li> <p>support a <a href="http://www.co2offsetresearch.org/consumer/Standards.html">credible offsetting program</a>.</p> </li> </ul> <p>And it’s worth thinking about what else you can do during the year to minimise emissions – this is your own “carbon budget”.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89148/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/susanne-becken-90437">Susanne Becken</a>, Professor of Sustainable Tourism and Director, Griffith Institute for Tourism, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brendan-mackey-152282">Brendan Mackey</a>, Director of the Griffith Climate Change Response Program, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/flying-home-for-christmas-carbon-offsets-are-important-but-they-wont-fix-plane-pollution-89148">original article</a>.</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Toxic pollutants can build up inside our homes. Here are 8 ways to reduce the risks

<p>We know everything in our homes gathers dust. What you probably don’t know is whether there are toxic contaminants in your house dust, and where these might come from. </p> <p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.115173">newly published research</a> found most of the dust inside homes came from outside and contains potentially toxic trace metals such as lead, arsenic and chromium. </p> <p>Worryingly, we found some contaminants can accumulate at higher concentrations inside homes than outside. This happened in homes with certain characteristics: older properties, metal construction materials enriched in zinc, recent renovations and deteriorating paint. </p> <p>Fortunately, you can take some simple steps to reduce your exposure, which we explain later.</p> <h2>What’s in house dust?</h2> <p>Our study explored the connected sources, pathways and potentially harmful exposures to trace metals at homes across Sydney. We collected and analysed 383 samples from nearby road dust (51 samples) and garden soil (166), as well as indoor dust (166).</p> <p>We found the dust in homes comes from a range of sources including outdoor environments and soil, skin, cleaning products, pet hair and cooking particles.<br />Nearly 60% of dust particles inside the homes originated from their immediate outdoor environment – it was <a href="https://theconversation.com/wearing-shoes-in-the-house-is-just-plain-gross-the-verdict-from-scientists-who-study-indoor-contaminants-177542">dirt from outside</a>! Wind, your shoes or your pets can carry in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412021002075?via%3Dihub">soil</a> and <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c04494">dust</a>-related contaminants.</p> <p>The remaining 40% of home dust came from indoor sources. These included <a href="https://theconversation.com/microplastics-are-common-in-homes-across-29-countries-new-research-shows-whos-most-at-risk-189051">fibres from clothes, carpets and furnishings</a>, cleaning products, skin and hair.</p> <p>Some dust sources can carry a cocktail of potentially harmful contaminants including:</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117064">microplastics</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2014.10.009">persistent organic pollutants</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.463">perfluorinated chemicals</a> (PFAS)</p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117593">trace metals</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2021.754657">bacterial communities</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2021.106501">antimicrobial resistance genes</a>. </p> </li> </ul> <p>The nature of the risk is related to how much of the contaminant you’re exposed to and for how long. The risks are greatest in children under the age of five. This is because they are small, closer to the floor and have frequent hand-mouth contact, which increases ingestion of contaminants.</p> <h2>How do contaminants build up in homes?</h2> <p>Industrial activity has left a marked legacy of contaminants in many city neighbourhoods. We analysed road dust, garden soil and vacuum dust samples from 166 homes in Sydney to see how this risk translated to inside homes. We used high-magnification microscopy and <a href="https://www.climate-policy-watcher.org/earth-sciences/lead-isotopes-as-tools-for-source-identification.html">lead isotopic ratios</a> to understand trace metal composition in the samples. </p> <p>On average, concentrations of trace metals arsenic, chromium, copper, manganese, lead and zinc were all higher inside homes than outside. This means homes are not only “accumulators” of trace metal contaminants but also important sources of a significant proportion of harmful contaminants that we can be exposed to. </p> <p>The lead isotopic ratios, or the lead “fingerprints”, of each home and its garden soil matched. This confirms the soil is the main source of lead inside homes. </p> <p>Most of this lead is the result of the pre-1970s use of high concentrations of lead in <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/protection/chemicals-management/lead/lead-in-house-paint">paints</a> and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2017.02.007">petrol</a>, which contaminated many garden soils. Even <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-lead-is-dangerous-and-the-damage-it-does-116506">low levels of lead exposure</a> can be harmful. Lead levels in some <a href="https://theconversation.com/elevated-lead-levels-in-sydney-back-yards-heres-what-you-can-do-68499">Sydney backyards</a> pose a risk for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2021.107151">urban veggie growers</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/backyard-hens-eggs-contain-40-times-more-lead-on-averagethan-shop-eggs-research-finds-187442">backyard chickens and their eggs</a>.</p> <p>High-magnification images of house dust showed mineral particles that have been blown in or tracked in on shoes. The rest of the dust was elongated fibres and hair from indoor sources.</p> <h2>Which homes are most at risk?</h2> <p>We also collected information about each house, relevant activities and renovations at the property. We found house age, proximity to the city centre and renovations had the greatest influence on levels of lead and other trace metals in the home. </p> <p>All homes more than 50 years old had higher concentrations of arsenic, copper, lead and zinc in their garden soil and house dust. They are typically <a href="https://iupui-earth-science.shinyapps.io/MME_Sydney/">located closer to city centres</a>, where early industrial activity has contaminated soils. </p> <p>As older homes in former industrial areas are renovated, trace metal loads in these homes and gardens can increase. Walls and ceilings contain decades of dust. Old paint buried under more recent layers can also be released, causing <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/3983094">lead exposure risks</a>. </p> <p>It is critical that home renovators take appropriate remediation steps or <a href="https://painters.edu.au/Training-Courses/CPCCPD3031-Work-safely-with-lead-painted-surfaces-in-the-painting-industry.htm">employ a qualified paint professional</a> so lead dust isn’t spread across the area.</p> <h2>8 ways to reduce your risk</h2> <p>We spend about <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1zg3q68x#main">70% of our time at home</a>, which the pandemic has increased. Understanding the environmental <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/exposome/default.html">conditions and contaminants we encounter</a>and their effects on our health is more important than ever. </p> <p>Armed with this knowledge, though, you can take some simple steps to reduce your exposure to contaminants in your home and garden:</p> <ol> <li> <p>regularly vacuum carpeted areas with a good vacuum cleaner fitted with a <a href="https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/ventilation-air-purification/print-all">HEPA filter</a></p> </li> <li> <p>wet mop and wet dust hard surfaces</p> </li> <li> <p>mulch areas of exposed soil in your garden</p> </li> <li> <p>use a quality doormat and wash it regularly, which can roughly <a href="https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/51148/1/Manuscript_File_Global_Pb_Modeling_Final_clean_1%20%281%29.pdf">halve the amount of lead</a> in your home within three months</p> </li> <li> <p>leave your shoes at the door as they can <a href="https://theconversation.com/wearing-shoes-in-the-house-is-just-plain-gross-the-verdict-from-scientists-who-study-indoor-contaminants-177542">bring all sorts of nasties into the home</a></p> </li> <li> <p>wash your hands and your veggies thoroughly </p> </li> <li> <p>close windows on windy days</p> </li> <li> <p>when renovating, use dust-mitigation strategies and personal protective equipment (PPE).</p> </li> </ol> <p>You can dig a little deeper into what’s in your own home environment by sending your soil to <a href="https://www.360dustanalysis.com/">VegeSafe Australia</a> or <a href="https://www.epa.vic.gov.au/for-community/get-involved/citizen-science-program/gardensafe">EPA Victoria’s GardenSafe</a> for analysis. If you live in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom or Australia you can also send your vacuum dust to <a href="https://www.360dustanalysis.com/">DustSafe</a> for testing. You will receive a report outlining what was in your sample, with links and advice on what to do next where necessary.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/toxic-pollutants-can-build-up-inside-our-homes-here-are-8-ways-to-reduce-the-risks-197908" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Home Hints & Tips

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Plastic pollution on Australia’s coasts has decreased by 29% since 2013

<p>Plastic pollution is an escalating global problem. Australia now produces 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste each year, while world-wide production is expected to double by 2040.</p> <p>This pollution doesn’t just accumulate on our beaches: it can be found on land and other marine environments (heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?)</p> <p>But according to a new study by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, plastic pollution on Australia’s coasts has decreased by 29% since 2013.</p> <p>The study, which assessed waste reduction efforts in Australia and their effect on coastal pollution, highlights that although Australia’s plastic use has remained constant since 2013, local governments are getting better at preventing and cleaning up pollution.</p> <p>“Our research set out to identify the local government approaches that have been most effective in reducing coastal plastics and identify the underlying behaviours that can lead to the greatest reduction in plastic pollution,” says lead researcher Dr Kathryn Willis, a recent PhD graduate from the University of Tasmania.</p> <p>“Whilst plastic pollution is still a global crisis and we still have a long way to go, this research shows that decisions made on the ground, at local management levels, are crucial for the successful reduction of coastal plastic pollution,” she adds.</p> <p>The study has been published in One Earth.</p> <p><strong>Local government approaches work</strong></p> <p>The new research builds upon extensive 2013 CSIRO coastal litter surveys with 563 new surveys and interviews with waste managers across 32 local governments around Australia completed in 2019.</p> <p>The results found that, although there was a decrease in the overall national average coastal pollution by 29%, some surveyed municipalities showed an increase in local litter by up to 93%, while others decreased by up to 73%.</p> <p>Since global plastic pollution is driven by waste reduction strategies at a local level (regardless of where the pollution originates), researchers then focused on identifying which local government approaches had the greatest effect on these levels of coastal pollution.</p> <p>To do this they sorted local government waste management actions into three categories of human behaviour, including:</p> <p><strong>Planned behaviour – </strong>strategies like recycling guides, information and education programs, and voluntary clean-up initiatives.</p> <p><strong>Crime prevention –</strong> waste management strategies like illegal dumping surveillance and beach cleaning by local governments.</p> <p><strong>Economic – </strong>actions like kerb-side waste and recycling collection, hard waste collections and shopping bag bans.</p> <p>They found that retaining and maintaining efforts in economic waste management strategies had the largest effect on reducing coastal litter.</p> <p>“For example, household collection services, where there are multiple waste and recycling streams, makes it easier for community members to separate and discard their waste appropriately,” says co-author Dr Denise Hardesty, a principal research scientist at CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere.</p> <p>“Our research showed that increases in waste levies had the second largest effect on decreases in coastal plastic pollution. Local governments are moving away from a collect and dump mindset to a sort and improve approach,” adds Hardesty.</p> <p>Clean-up activities, such as Clean Up Australia Day, and surveillance programs that directly involved members of the community were also effective.</p> <p>“Increasing community stewardship of the local environment and beaches has huge benefits. Not only does our coastline become cleaner, but people are more inclined to look out for bad behaviour, even using dumping hotlines to report illegal polluting activity,” says Hardesty.</p> <p><strong>Another piece of the solution to our plastics problem</strong></p> <p>This isn’t the be-all and end-all solution to Australia’s plastics problem – let alone globally – but this research does provide decision-makers with empirical evidence that the choices made by municipal waste managers and policymakers are linked to reductions in plastic pollution in the environment.</p> <p>Identifying the most effective approaches for reducing coastal litter is an important part of future plastic pollution reduction strategies. The CSIRO’s Ending Plastic Waste Mission is aiming for an 80% reduction in plastic waste entering the Australian environment by 2030.</p> <p>“While we still have a long way to go, and the technical challenges are enormous, these early results show that when we each play to our individual strengths, from community groups, industry, government and research organisations, and we take the field as Team Australia, then we can win,” says Dr Larry Marshall, chief executive of CSIRO.</p> <p><em><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/australia-coastal-plastic-pollution/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Imma Perfetto.</strong></em></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Air pollution may impair cognitive function

<div> <div class="copy"> <p>A joint China-US research team has found that exposure to even short-term air pollution may impair cognitive function.</p> <p>Air pollution is a growing cause of sickness and death globally, with a <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/climate/air-pollution-pandemic-warning/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recent study</a> estimating that it caused an extra 8.8 million premature deaths in 2015, surpassing the 7.2 million caused by tobacco smoking. It has well-established effects on the lungs and the heart – it has been linked with spikes in <a href="http://jaha.ahajournals.org/content/5/5/e002742" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">heart attacks, strokes</a> and <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0180522" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">asthma</a>, and is a carcinogen known to cause lung cancer.</p> <p>Increasingly, research is also associating air pollution with other health impacts including <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/kidney-disease-linked-to-air-pollution/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">kidney disease</a>, <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/climate/could-air-pollution-contribute-to-psychiatric-illness/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">psychiatric illness</a> and <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/air-pollution-link-to-alzheimer-s-mooted/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Alzheimer’s</a>.</p> <p><strong>What causes air pollution?</strong></p> <ul> <li>Air pollution is the release of pollutants into the air that have detrimental effects on human or planetary health.</li> <li>It can have natural sources, such as desert dust or bushfire smoke, but is increasingly created by humans, primarily from burning fossil fuels.</li> <li>There are two main types: smog occurs when emissions from burning fossil fuels react with sunlight, while soot is made up of tiny particles made up of smoke, soil, dust, allergens or chemicals. Anything that combusts fossil fuels can cause this, including vehicle exhaust, power plants, incinerators and more.</li> </ul> <p>Now, in a new study <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-021-00060-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published</a> in the journal <em>Nature Ageing</em>, researchers have linked poor air quality with decreased brain health.</p> <p>The team studied a sample of 954 Caucasian males (with an average age of 70) from the Boston area in the US, who were participants in the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study. Their cognitive function was measured by a series of assessments to test their attention, learning and memory, as well as an screening to help detect early signs of dementia.</p> <p>This was compared to the average levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5, smaller than 2.5 micrometres in size) in the area, both on the day of each test and in the 28 days prior. The team found the participants tended to score lower when levels of PM2.5 were higher in the month before the tests – even when levels were still below what is considered as “hazardous”.</p> <p>“The findings were quite startling,” write cognitive health researchers Joanne Ryan and Alice J. Owen, in an <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43587-021-00062-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">accompanying article</a>. “Even relatively small increases in the levels of PM2.5 in the 3–4 weeks prior to testing were associated with consistently worse cognitive performance.”</p> <p>Ryan and Owen, both from Monash University in Australia and both not involved in the study, point out that Boston “has by no means the worst air quality in the USA or the world, and yet significant detrimental effects of air pollution on cognitive function were observed”.</p> <p>While a decline in brain function in older adults is common, it can be exacerbated – and accelerated – by environmental factors. Evidence is <a href="https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-180631" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mounting</a> that air pollution could be a risk factor for dementia and could, over the long term, be <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.neuro.2016.06.004" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">associated</a> with cognitive declines.</p> <p>“The results of the current study are especially important because they provide some of the first evidence that even relatively low-level, short-term increases in PM2.5 are detrimental for thinking and memory, as well as global cognition in older adults,” Ryan and Owen write.</p> <p>The results may point to a general trend in the larger population, given that air pollution <a href="https://www.unicef.org/environment/files/Danger_in_the_Air.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">affects brain development</a> in kids, and women seem to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.0900994" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">more strongly affected</a> than men.</p> <p>Interestingly, the researchers also found that the participants who were prescribed NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin) were less adversely affected. This may be because the health impacts of air pollution tend to involve activating the body’s inflammatory response. But caution is warranted; there may be many other differences between participants who do and don’t use NSAIDs.</p> <p>This study also had a relatively small sample size and focused on a certain geographical area, so further research is needed to solidify the link between air pollution and cognitive function.</p> <p>However, Ryan and Owen emphasise the importance of the results.</p> <p>“The implications for public health, and consequent health, societal and economic costs of air pollution, are immense,” they write. “This should be a further wake-up call about the urgent need for action.</p> <p>“It has been estimated that 90% of the world’s population breathe polluted air. Breathing clean air is fundamental to our health but represents a global challenge and one of substantial inequity, disproportionally affecting the most vulnerable.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em><!-- Start of tracking content syndication. Please do not remove this section as it allows us to keep track of republished articles --> <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=149918&amp;title=Air+pollution+may+impair+cognitive+function" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /> <!-- End of tracking content syndication --></em></div> <div id="contributors"> <p><em>This article was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/air-pollution-may-impair-cognitive-function/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Lauren Fuge. </em></p> </div> </div>

Mind

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Making the tobacco industry pay for cigarette litter could stop 4.5 billion butts polluting the Australian environment

<p>Cigarette butts with filters are the most commonly littered item worldwide, with a staggering <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5347528/">4.5 trillion</a> of them tossed into the environment each year. This is a huge problem; many end up on <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935119300787">beaches and in the ocean</a>, and the tar from burnt tobacco in the filter can be toxic to wildlife.</p> <p>Fixing the problem has focused on changing the behaviour of people who smoke, but a <a href="https://www.wwf.org.au/ArticleDocuments/353/pub-WWF-Australia-Ending-cigarette-butt-pollution-3Dec21.pdf.aspx">new report</a> shows making the tobacco industry responsible for the litter with a mandatory product stewardship scheme is likely to have a much greater impact.</p> <p>In Australia alone, it’s estimated up to 8.9 billion butts are littered each year. Under the proposed scheme, we could potentially reduce this by 4.45 billion a year.</p> <p>So how can it be done in practice? And what would the benefits be from a policy like this?</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433353/original/file-20211123-15-8zbai4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433353/original/file-20211123-15-8zbai4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="Three wrens around a cigarette butt" /></a> <span class="caption">Smoked cigarette filters take months or even years to break down.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></p> <h2>Social and environmental costs</h2> <p>Cigarette filters are made of a bioplastic called cellulose acetate, and they typically take <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0117393">years to break down</a>. Smoked cigarette filters are infused with the same chemicals and heavy metals in the tar that harm humans when they smoke.</p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/cigarette-butts-are-the-forgotten-plastic-pollution-and-they-could-be-killing-our-plants-119958">Research from 2019 found</a> adding cigarette butts to soil reduces the germination of grass and clover seeds and the length of their shoots. Seaworms exposed to used filters have <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep14119">DNA damage and reduced growth</a>.</p> <p>And exposure to cigarette filters (even unsmoked ones) are toxic to fish – <a href="https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/20/Suppl_1/i25?utm_source=TrendMD&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=TC_TrendMD-0">research with two fish species </a> found adding two to four smoked cigarette filters per litre of water could kill them.</p> <p>Currently, the tobacco industry does not have to pay for the clean-up of cigarette butts polluting the environment. Rather, the community bears the cost. Cigarette litter and its management <a href="https://www.wwf.org.au/ArticleDocuments/353/pub-WWF-Australia-Ending-cigarette-butt-pollution-3Dec21.pdf.aspx">costs</a> the Australian economy an estimated A$73 million per year.</p> <p>Local councils in particular spend large amounts of money cleaning it up. The City of Sydney, for example, has estimated their cleaning crews sweep up <a href="https://campaignbrief.com/the-city-of-sydney-launches-ci/">15,000 cigarette butts daily</a> from city streets.</p> <p>And volunteers spend countless hours picking up cigarette butts from parks, streets and beaches. In its 2020 Rubbish Report, Clean Up Australia Day found cigarette butts accounted for <a href="https://www.cleanup.org.au/cigarette-butts">16% of all recorded items</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433349/original/file-20211123-19-1qwxthm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433349/original/file-20211123-19-1qwxthm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="Two smiling men hold bags of rubbish" /></a> <span class="caption">Volunteers, such as for Clean Up Australia Day, spend countless hours picking up cigarette butts from the enviornment.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Glengarry Landcare VIC/Clean Up Australia</span></span></p> <h2>Current strategies are ineffective</h2> <p>The tobacco industry response to product waste has been to focus <a href="https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/20/2/100">responsibility on the consumer</a>. Tobacco companies have created public education campaigns aimed at increasing awareness of the butt litter problem, supplied consumers and cities worldwide with public ashtrays, and funded anti-litter groups.</p> <p>But given the amount of cigarettes that continue to be littered, it’s clear these strategies on their own have been ineffective. Many around the world are <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-explores-next-steps-to-clean-up-tobacco-litter-in-england">now calling for stronger industry regulation</a>.</p> <p>There have also been calls to ban cigarette filters completely. For example, lawmakers in <a href="https://calmatters.org/environment/2019/06/california-cigarette-butt-filter-ban-bill-electronic-disposable-vapes/">California</a> and New York have attempted to ban the sale of cigarettes with filters, and New Zealand is finalising their <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/proposals_for_a_smokefree_aotearoa_2025_action_plan-final.pdf">Smokefree Aotearoa Action Plan</a>, which may include a cigarette filter ban.</p> <p>Many jurisdictions in Australia and worldwide are starting to ban single-use plastics such as straws and takeaway containers, and have <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/367/bmj.l5890">been criticised</a> for not including cigarette filters in these laws.</p> <p>If filters were banned, cigarette butt litter would remain, but without the plastic filter. Although, <a href="https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2021/11/18/tobaccocontrol-2021-056815">a recent trial</a> of cigarettes without filters found that people smoked fewer of these than when they were given the same cigarettes with filters. More research is needed on the health impact of smoking filterless cigarettes and the environmental impact of filterless cigarette butts.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433352/original/file-20211123-27-d6ktd4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433352/original/file-20211123-27-d6ktd4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">A pubic cigarette butt disposal facility in Salem, US.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></p> <h2>What would a stewardship scheme look like?</h2> <p>The federal government’s <a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/national-plastics-plan-2021.pdf">National Plastics Plan</a>, released in March this year, committed to initiate a stewardship taskforce that would reduce cigarette butt litter in Australia, and would consider a potential stewardship scheme. However, they proposed the stewardship taskforce be industry led.</p> <p>Product stewardship schemes can be voluntary or written into law. For example, waste from product packaging is managed through a voluntary scheme, the <a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/environment/protection/waste/plastics-and-packaging/packaging-covenant">Australian Packaging Covenant</a>, which sets targets for reducing packaging waste that aren’t written into law. On the other hand, <a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/environment/protection/waste/product-stewardship/products-schemes/television-computer-recycling-scheme">there is a law in Australia</a> requiring companies who manufacture TVs or computers to pay some of the costs for recycling these products.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.wwf.org.au/ArticleDocuments/353/pub-WWF-Australia-Ending-cigarette-butt-pollution-3Dec21.pdf.aspx">new research</a>, commissioned by World Wildlife Fund for Nature Australia, considered four regulatory approaches: business as usual, a ban on plastic filters, a voluntary industry product stewardship scheme, and a mandatory product stewardship scheme led by the federal government.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433344/original/file-20211123-13-tpimfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;rect=0%2C16%2C5442%2C3600&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433344/original/file-20211123-13-tpimfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;rect=0%2C16%2C5442%2C3600&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="A hand in blue plastic gloves holds a cigarette butt on the beach" /></a> <span class="caption">Cigarette litter costs the Australian economy an estimated A$73 million each year.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brian Yurasits/Unsplash</span>, <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" class="license">CC BY</a></span></p> <p>Each of these options were ranked according to factors such as the regulatory effort required to implement them, their cost, consumer participation and the extent to which they would reduce environmental impacts on land and waterways.</p> <p>A ban on plastic cigarette filters and a mandatory product stewardship scheme were assessed as having the greatest potential environmental benefit. While uncertainties remain about a filter ban, there is no such barrier to implementing a mandatory product stewardship scheme on cigarette waste.</p> <p>This scheme could involve a tax that would pay for the recovery and processing costs associated with cigarette butt litter. The study suggested introducing a levy of A$0.004 – less than half a cent – on each smoked cigarette to manage the waste. Other studies from overseas, however, show this cost would need to be <a href="https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/20/Suppl_1/i36.full">higher</a>.</p> <p>We can look to the UK for an example of where to start. The UK is currently considering implementing an extended producer responsibility scheme to address cigarette litter. In November this year, it released a <a href="https://consult.defra.gov.uk/environmental-quality/call-for-evidence-on-commonly-littered-and-problem/supporting_documents/Call%20for%20evidence%20document.pdf">consultation document</a> on different options.</p> <p>They proposed a mandatory scheme where the tobacco industry would pay for the full costs of cleaning up and processing cigarette waste. Other costs they might be made to pay are for gathering and reporting data on tobacco product waste, provision of bins for cigarette butts, and campaigns to promote responsible disposal by consumers.</p> <p>It is time for the federal and state governments in Australia to make the tobacco industry pay for the mess they create.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171831/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kylie-morphett-1271253">Kylie Morphett</a>, Research Fellow, School of Public Health, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a></em>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/coral-gartner-7425">Coral Gartner</a>, Director, NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence on Achieving the Tobacco Endgame, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a></em>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/william-clarke-380521">William Clarke</a>, Professor of waste management, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-the-tobacco-industry-pay-for-cigarette-litter-could-stop-4-5-billion-butts-polluting-the-australian-environment-171831">original article</a>.</p> <p><em>Image: Shuttershock</em></p>

Domestic Travel

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Polluted lakes turn pink, frustrating local residents

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though many tourist spots boast being unusually coloured, Argentina’s pink lakes won’t be widely advertised.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Several lakes outside the city of Trelew have suddenly turned bubblegum pink, concerning locals and prompting authorities to search for an explanation.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Since then, the authorities have uncovered a truck which has been disposing waste from nearby fish factories in the region’s network of lagoons.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Environmental and virologist Federico Resrepo told AFP that the colour change was due to sodium sulfate in the fish waste, which is an antibacterial agent used to preserve prawns for export.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Juan Micheloud, the environmental control chief of the area, told AFP: “The reddish colour does not cause damage and will disappear in a few days.”</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">Experts say pollution from a chemical used to preserve prawns for export purposes may have changed this Argentinian lagoon's color to bright pink. <a href="https://t.co/doGMeE9U6d">pic.twitter.com/doGMeE9U6d</a></p> — DW News (@dwnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1419773772727341059?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Residents have complained about the pollution, which has also caused foul odours to spread. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In protest of the pollution, residents of the neighbouring town of Rawson blocked the roads to prevent trucks transporting fish waste from leaving the factory.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We get dozens of trucks daily, the residents are getting tired of it,” environmental activist Pablo Lada told AFP.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Those who should be in control are the ones who authorise the poisoning of people.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With the factories generating thousands of jobs within the province, tension has been growing between frustrated locals and the area’s reliance on the factories economically.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Fish processing generates work … it’s true,” Lada said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“But these are multi-million-dollar profit companies that don’t want to pay freight to take the waste to a treatment plant that already exists in Puerto Madryn, 35 miles away, or build a plant closer.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The lagoon, which covers an area between 10 to 15 hectares, is not used for recreation, and is located within the Industrial Park of Trelew.</span></p>

International Travel

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9 surprising ways to cut down indoor air pollution

<p>Many people assume pollution is just an outdoor problem but your home can also be polluted with mould and dust mites, making it an unhealthy environment.</p> <p>As Susan Olesik, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Ohio State University says: “As a society, we make sure that our houses are well-insulated, but we don’t think enough about exposure to all the things we place in our homes.”</p> <p>The air quality in and around buildings has a big effect on our health, and while you can feel the symptoms – shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea – right away, other health effects can come on years after exposure, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). </p> <p><strong>Clear out old cigarette and e-cigarette smoke</strong></p> <p>Pulmonologist Dr Sumita Khatri notes that one of the most common indoor air pollutants is cigarette smoke, though newer e-cigarettes are another source. The vapour emitted when someone smokes e-cigarettes releases chemicals linked to lung disease.</p> <p>This rule also applies to the previous occupants of your home who may have smoked. “We have all heard of second-hand smoke but this is called third-hand smoke,” says Dr Khatri.</p> <p>“If you have a room that has been exposed to residual smoke, make sure to change the fabric or carpet, which can be a risk to children or people with chronic heart and lung problems,” she adds.</p> <p><strong>Don’t overwater indoor plants</strong></p> <p>Overwatering your plants can contribute to the growth of mould, and any water that leaks on to the floor invites mould growth as well, says Olesik. Put pebbles on top of the soil to discourage mould spores from getting into and polluting the air, walls and floor.</p> <p><strong>Clean under your fridge</strong></p> <p>The tray under your fridge is a veritable mould magnet. Adding salt reduces the growth of mould and bacteria. Clean under the refrigerator occasionally to get rid of dust and mould, and make sure your cleaning products are environmentally friendly, advises Dr Khatri. “Cleaning products can also be harmful, so consider green and natural cleaning products which release less harmful chemicals and fumes,” she says.</p> <p><strong>Freshen air naturally</strong></p> <p>Air fresheners and scented candles contain trace amounts of hazardous chemicals, though in amounts lower than most guidelines, so it’s OK to use them on occasion, says Oleski. But she warns against overdoing either approach to fresher air. “It’s better to open the window if the weather allows.” If not, turn on the AC. Air conditioners remove mould-friendly moisture and filter allergens entering the house. Just make sure to clean or change the filters often or you’ll just make things worse.</p> <p><strong>Give stuffed toys the deep freeze</strong></p> <p>That teddy bear could be riddled with dust mites! Regularly slip stuffed toys into a freezer bag and let them chill for three to five hours. The cold will kill any dust mites that could contribute to indoor air pollution, according to a 2017 report in the <em>Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology</em>.</p> <p><strong>Declutter</strong></p> <p>Regularly throw out or give away coats and other clothing you haven’t worn in ages. Put sports equipment in the garage where it belongs. When you’ve finished, you should be able to see all your closet floors and back walls.</p> <p>“Minimising clutter is a great way to improve air quality because it allows you to see dust and other contaminants that might be invisible,” says Dr Khatri. Now give everything a good vacuum and you’ll have significantly reduced the amount of dust in your house and cut down on your indoor air pollution.</p> <p><strong>Leave shoes at the door</strong></p> <p>Mud isn’t the only thing you track into your home, notes Oleski. Parking your shoes by the door keeps your floors clean and reduces indoor air pollution, especially pesticides tracked in from outdoors. “You know those signs that say ‘keep dogs off lawn?’” They should also apply to people,” she says.</p> <p><strong>Keep your pets clean</strong></p> <p>Just like you take off your shoes, always make sure to wipe off your pet’s paws when they come in from being outdoors. Towelling off their coat can also help prevent the spread of pollen indoors. And bathe them frequently to help dissolve the natural, allergy-causing substances in their sweat and skin that spread to their fur.</p> <p><em>Photo: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em> </em></p> <p><em> </em></p> <p><em> </em></p> <p><em> </em></p> <p><em> </em></p>

Home & Garden

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Air pollution could be making honey bees sick

<p>Whether it’s exhaust fumes from cars or smoke from power plants, air pollution is an often invisible threat that is <a href="https://www.who.int/health-topics/air-pollution#tab=tab_1">a leading cause</a> of death worldwide. Breathing air laced with heavy metals, nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter has been linked to a range of chronic health conditions, <a href="https://theconversation.com/understanding-the-pollution-thats-hurting-our-health-25242">including</a> lung problems, heart disease, stroke and cancer.</p> <p>If air pollution can harm human health in so many different ways, it makes sense that other animals suffer from it too. Airborne pollutants affect all kinds of life, <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.en.27.010182.002101">even insects</a>. In highly polluted areas of Serbia, for instance, <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/5197/">researchers found</a> pollutants lingering on the bodies of European honeybees. Car exhaust fumes are known to interrupt the scent cues that attract and guide bees towards flowers, while also <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41876-w">interfering with</a> their ability to remember scents.</p> <p>Now, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2009074117">a new study from India</a> has revealed how air pollution may be depleting the health of honey bees in the wild. These effects may not kill bees outright. But like humans repeatedly going to work under heavy stress or while feeling unwell, the researchers found that air pollution made bees sluggish in their daily activities and could be shortening their lives.</p> <p><strong>Unhealthy bees in Bangalore</strong></p> <p>India is one of the world’s <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/264662/top-producers-of-fresh-vegetables-worldwide/">largest producers</a> of fruit and vegetables. Essential to that success are pollinator species like the giant Asian honey bee. Unlike the managed European honey bee, these bees are predominantly wild and regularly resist humans and other animals eager to harvest their honey. Colonies can migrate over hundreds of kilometres within a year, pollinating a vast range of wild plants and crops across India.</p> <p>Researchers studied how this species was faring in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, where air pollution records have been <a href="https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/cover-story/you-think-delhi-is-polluted-bengalurus-pollution-levels-will-leave-you-breathless/articleshow/69065577.cms">reported as</a> some of the highest in the country. The giant Asian honey bees were observed and collected across four sites in the city over three years. Each had different standards of air pollution.</p> <p>The number of bees visiting flowers was significantly lower in the most polluted sites, possibly reducing how much plants in these places were pollinated. Bees from these sites died faster after capture, and, like houses in a dirty city, were partly covered in traces of arsenic and lead. They had arrhythmic heartbeats, fewer immune cells, and were more likely to show signs of stress.</p> <p>There are some caveats to consider, though. For one thing, areas with high pollution might have had fewer flowering plants, meaning bees were less likely to seek them out. Also, the researchers looked at the health of honey bees in parts of the city purely based on different levels of measured pollution. They couldn’t isolate the effect of the pollution with absolute certainty – there may have been hidden factors behind the unhealthy bees they uncovered.</p> <p>But, crucially, it wasn’t just bees that showed this trend. In a follow-up experiment, the study’s authors placed cages of fruit flies at the same sites. Just like the bees, the flies became coated in pollutants, died quicker where there was more air pollution, and showed higher levels of stress.</p> <p>The threat posed by pesticides is well known. But if air pollution is also affecting the health of a range of pollinating insects, what does that mean for ecosystems and food production?</p> <p><strong>Fewer cars, more flowers</strong></p> <p>Our diets would be severely limited if insects like honey bees were impaired in their pollinating duties, but the threat to entire ecosystems of losing these species is even more grave. Crop plants account for less than 0.1% of all flowering species, yet 85% of flowering plants are <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.464.6928&amp;rep=rep1&amp;type=pdf">pollinated by</a> bees and other species.</p> <p>Giant Asian honey bees like the ones in Bangalore form large, aggressive colonies that can move between urban, farmed and forest habitats. These journeys expose them to very different levels of pollution, but the colonies of most other types of wild bee species are stationary. They nest in soil, undergrowth or masonry, and individuals travel relatively short distances. The levels of pollution they’re regularly exposed to are unlikely to change very much from one day to the next, and it’s these species that are likely to suffer most if they live in towns or cities where local pollution is high.</p> <p>Thankfully, there are ways to fix this problem. Replacing cars with clean alternatives like electrified public transport would go a long way to reducing pollution. Creating more urban green spaces with lots of trees and other plants would help filter the air too, while providing new food sources and habitat for bees.</p> <p>In many parts of the UK, roadside verges have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/roadside-wildflower-meadows-are-springing-up-across-the-uk-and-theyre-helping-wildlife-in-a-big-way-120014">converted to wildflower meadows</a> in recent years. In doing so, are local authorities inadvertently attracting bees to areas we know may be harmful? We don’t know, but it’s worth pondering. From September 2020, Coventry University is launching a citizen science project with the nation’s beekeepers to map the presence of fine particulate matter in the air around colonies, to begin to unravel what’s happening to honey bees in the UK.</p> <p>Air pollution is likely to be one part of a complex problem. Bees are sensitive to lots of toxins, but how these interact in the wild is fiendishly difficult to disentangle. We know <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13592-014-0308-z">cocktails of pesticides</a> can cause real damage too. But what happens when bees are exposed to these at the same time as air pollution? We don’t yet know, but answers are urgently needed.</p> <p><em>Written by Barbara Smith and Mark Brown. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/air-pollution-could-be-making-honey-bees-sick-new-study-144155">The Conversation.</a></em></p> <p><em> </em></p>

Travel Tips

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Turn off the porch light: 6 easy ways to stop light pollution from harming our wildlife

<p>As winter approaches, marine turtle nesting in the far north of Australia <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/2eb379de-931b-4547-8bcc-f96c73065f54/files/national-light-pollution-guidelines-wildlife.pdf">will peak</a>. When these baby turtles hatch at night, they crawl from the sand to the sea, using the relative brightness of the horizon and the natural slope of the beach as their guide.</p> <p>But when artificial lights outshine the moon and the sea, these hatchlings become disorientated. This leaves them vulnerable to predators, exhaustion and even traffic if they head in the wrong direction.</p> <p>Baby turtles are one small part of the larger, often overlooked, story of how light pollution harms wildlife across the <a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-smarter-about-city-lights-is-good-for-us-and-nature-too-69556">land</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/bright-city-lights-are-keeping-ocean-predators-awake-and-hungry-68965">underwater</a>.</p> <p>Green Turtle’s Battle For Survival | Planet Earth | BBC Earth.</p> <p>Today, more than 80% of people – and 99% of North American and European human populations – <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/6/e1600377">live under light-polluted skies</a>. We have transformed the night-time environment over substantial portions of the Earth’s surface in a very short time, relative to evolutionary timescales. Most wildlife hasn’t had time to adjust.</p> <p>In January, Australia released the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/publications/national-light-pollution-guidelines-wildlife">National Light Pollution Guidelines for Wildlife</a>. These guidelines provide a framework for assessing and managing the impacts of artificial light.</p> <p>The guidelines also identify practical solutions that can be used globally to manage light pollution, both by managers and practitioners, and by anyone in control of a light switch.</p> <p>The guidelines outline six easy steps anyone can follow to minimise light pollution without compromising our own safety.</p> <p>Although light pollution is a global problem and true darkness is hard to come by, we can all do our part to reduce its impacts on wildlife by changing how we use and think about light at night.</p> <p><strong>1. Start with natural darkness. Only add light for a specific purpose</strong></p> <p>Natural darkness should be the default at night. Artificial light should only be used if it’s needed for a specific purpose, and it should only be turned on for the necessary period of time.</p> <p>This means it’s okay to have your veranda light on to help you find your keys, but the light doesn’t need to stay on all night.</p> <p>Similarly, indoor lighting can also contribute to light pollution, so turning lights off in empty office buildings at night, or in your home before you go to sleep, is also important.</p> <p><strong>2. Use smart lighting controls</strong></p> <p>Advances in smart control technology make it easy to manage how much light you use, and adaptive controls make meeting the goals of Step 1 more feasible.</p> <p>Investing in smart controls and LED technology means you can remotely manage your lights, set timers or dimmers, activate motion sensor lighting, and even control the colour of the light emitted.</p> <p>These smart controls should be used to activate artificial light at night only when needed, and to minimise light when not needed.</p> <p><strong>3. Keep lights close to the ground, directed and shielded</strong></p> <p>Any light that spills outside the specific area intended to be lit is unnecessary light.</p> <p>Light spilling upward contributes directly to artificial sky glow – the glow you see over urban areas from cumulative sources of light. Both sky glow and light spilling into adjacent areas on the ground can disrupt wildlife.</p> <p>Installing <a href="https://www.ledlightexpert.com/Light-Shields-Explained--Outdoor-Parking-Lot-Light-Shielding_b_42.html">light shields</a> allow you to direct the light downward, which significantly reduces sky glow, and to direct the light towards the specific target area. Light shields are recommended for any outdoor lighting installations.</p> <p><strong>4. Use the lowest intensity lighting</strong></p> <p>When deciding how much light you need, consider the intensity of the light produced (lumens), rather than the energy required to make it (watts).</p> <p>LEDs, for example, are often considered an “environmentally friendly” option because they’re relatively energy efficient. But because of their energy efficiency, LEDs produce between two and five times as much light as incandescent bulbs for the same amount of energy consumption.</p> <p>So, while LED lights save energy, the increased intensity of the light can lead to greater impacts on wildlife, if not managed properly.</p> <p><strong>5. Use non-reflective, dark-coloured surfaces.</strong></p> <p>Sky glow has been shown to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep01722">mask lunar light rhythms</a> of wildlife, interfering with the celestial navigation and migration of <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/313/5788/837">birds</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/424033a">insects</a>.</p> <p>Highly polished, shiny, or light-coloured surfaces – such as structures painted white, or polished marble – are good at reflecting light and so contribute more to sky glow than darker, non-reflective surfaces.</p> <p>Choosing darker coloured paint or materials for outdoor features will help reduce your contribution to light pollution.</p> <p><strong>6. Use lights with reduced or filtered blue, violet and ultra-violet wavelengths</strong></p> <p>Most animals are sensitive to short-wavelength light, which creates blue and violet colours. These short wavelengths are known to suppress melatonin production, which is known to disrupt sleep and interfere with circadian rhythms of many animals, <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/22/6400/htm">including humans</a>.</p> <p>Choosing lighting options with little or no short wavelength (400-500 nanometres) violet or blue light will help to avoid unintended harmful effects on wildlife.</p> <p>For example, compact fluorescent and LED lights have a high amount of short wavelength light, compared low or high-pressure sodium, metal halide, and halogen light sources.</p> <p><em>Written by Emily fobert, Katherine Dafforn and Mariana Mayer-Pinto. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/turn-off-the-porch-light-6-easy-ways-to-stop-light-pollution-from-harming-our-wildlife-132595">The Conversation.</a></em></p>

Cruising

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New evidence shows how coronavirus has affected global air pollution

<p>The COVID-19 pandemic is getting more overwhelming by the day with increasing lockdowns, a death toll of over 7,000 people across the world, and a direct hit to the global economy.</p> <p>But amongst the disaster lies a beacon of hope, as the coronavirus has been decreasing air pollution and possibly even saving lives in the process.</p> <p>On March 8, Stanford University environment resource economist Marshall Burke did some back-of-the-envelope calculations are the recent air pollution drop over parts of China and the amount of lives that may have been saved.</p> <p>While the numbers won’t stay the same for long, according to Burke, it’s likely that the lives saved locally from the reduction in pollution exceed COVID-19 deaths in China.</p> <p>“Given the huge amount of evidence that breathing dirty air contributes heavily to premature mortality, a natural – if admittedly strange – question is whether the lives saved from the reduction in pollution caused by economic disruption from COVID-19 exceeds the death toll from the virus itself,” writes Burke.</p> <p>“Even under very conservative assumptions, I think the answer is a clear ‘yes’.”</p> <p>The reduction of pollution over the course of two months has probably saved the lives of 4,000 children under the age of and 73,000 adults over 70 in China according to Burke. That’s significantly more than the current global death toll from the virus itself.</p> <p>"It is remarkable that both the number of deaths and the loss in life expectancy from air pollution rival the effect of tobacco smoking and are much higher than other causes of death," <span>physicist Jos Lelieveld from the Cyprus Institute in Nicosia stated at the time.</span></p> <p>"Air pollution exceeds malaria as a global cause of premature death by a factor of 19; it exceeds violence by a factor of 16, HIV/AIDS by a factor of 9, alcohol by a factor of 45, and drug abuse by a factor of 60."</p> <p>So, it’s proven that air pollution does kill.</p> <p>Burke’s analysis was just using data from China, and was completed before there was more information about how coronavirus has affected the rest of the world.</p>

International Travel

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Why plane pollution is a huge problem for Australia

<p><em><strong>Susanne Becken, Professor of Sustainable Tourism and Director, Griffith Institute for Tourism, Griffith University, and Brendan Mackey, Director of the Griffith Climate Change Response Program, Griffith University, explain why plane pollution is a huge problem for Australia.</strong></em></p> <p>Australia is an important player in the global tourism business. In 2016, <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.tra.gov.au/research/research" target="_blank">8.7 million visitors arrived in Australia and 8.8 million Australians went overseas</a></strong></span>. A further 33.5 million overnight trips were made domestically.</p> <p>But all this travel comes at a cost. According to the <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://tourismdashboard.org/explore-the-data/carbon-emissions/" target="_blank">Global Sustainable Tourism Dashboard</a></strong></span>, all Australian domestic trips and one-way international journeys (the other half is attributed to the end point of travel) amount to 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide for 2016. That is 2.7% of global aviation emissions, despite a population of only 0.3% of the global total.</p> <p>The peak month of air travel in and out of Australia is December. Christmas is the time where people travel to see friends and family, or to go on holiday. More and more people are <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/analysis-of-a-119-country-survey-predicts-global-climate-change-awareness/" target="_blank">aware of the carbon implications of their travel</a></strong></span> and want to know whether, for example, they should purchase carbon offsets or not.</p> <p>Our <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969699716302538" target="_blank">recent study in the Journal of Air Transport Management</a></strong></span> showed that about one third of airlines globally offer some form of carbon offsetting to their customers. However, the research also concluded that the information provided to customers is often insufficient, dated and possibly misleading. Whilst local airlines <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.qantasfutureplanet.com.au/#aboutus" target="_blank">Qantas</a></strong></span>, <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.virginaustralia.com/nz/en/about-us/sustainability/carbon-offset-program/" target="_blank">Virgin Australia</a></strong></span> and <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/sustainability-customer-carbon-offset" target="_blank">Air New Zealand</a></strong></span> have relatively advanced and well-articulated carbon offset programs, others fail to offer scientifically robust explanations and accredited mechanisms that ensure that the money spent on an offset generates some real climate benefits.</p> <p>The notion of carbon compensation is actually more difficult than people might think. To help explain why carbon offsetting does make an important climate contribution, but at the same time still adds to atmospheric carbon, we created an <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsh-erzGlR0" target="_blank">animated video clip</a></strong></span>.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xsh-erzGlR0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>The video features Jack, a concerned business traveller who begins purchasing carbon credits. However, he comes to the realisation that the carbon emissions from his flights are still released into the atmosphere, despite the credit.</p> <p>The concept of “carbon neutral” promoted by airline offsets means that an equal amount of emissions is avoided elsewhere, but it does not mean there is no carbon being emitted at all – just relatively less compared with the scenario of not offsetting (where someone else continues to emit, in addition to the flight).</p> <p>This means that, contrary to many promotional and educational materials (see <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGB2OAg5ffA" target="_blank">here</a></strong></span> for instance), carbon offsetting will not reduce overall carbon emissions. Trading emissions means that we are merely maintaining status quo.</p> <p>A steep reduction, however, is what’s required by every sector if we were to reach the net-zero emissions goal by 2050, agreed on in the <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9485.php" target="_blank">Paris Agreement</a></strong></span>.</p> <p>Carbon offsetting is already an important “<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517714000910" target="_blank">polluter pays</a></strong></span>” mechanism for travellers who wish to contribute to climate mitigation. But it is also about to be institutionalised at large scale through the new UN-run <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Pages/market-based-measures.aspx" target="_blank">Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA)</a></strong></span>.</p> <p>CORSIA will come into force in 2021, when participating airlines will have to purchase carbon credits for emissions above 2020 levels on certain routes.</p> <p>The availability of carbon credits and their integrity is of major concern, as well as how they align with national obligations and mechanisms agreed in the Paris Agreement. Of particular interest is <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.carbon-mechanisms.de/en/introduction/the-paris-agreement-and-article-6/" target="_blank">Article 6</a></strong></span>, which allows countries to cooperate in meeting their climate commitments, including by “trading” emissions reductions to count towards a national target.</p> <p>The recent COP23 in Bonn highlighted that CORSIA is widely seen as a potential source of billions of dollars for offset schemes, supporting important climate action. Air travel may provide an important intermediate source of funds, but ultimately the aviation sector, just like anyone else, will have to reduce their own emissions. This will mean major advances in technology – and most likely a contraction in the fast expanding global aviation market.</p> <p><em>Written by Susanne Becken and Brendan Mackey. Republished with permission of <a href="http://www.theconversation.com" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Conversation</span></strong></a>.</em><img width="1" height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89148/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" alt="The Conversation"/></p>

Domestic Travel

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5 surprising causes of pollution coming from your house

<p>These every day household products might slip under your radar but they are actually having a bigger impact on the environment than you know. By decreasing your use of these products, you are not only living more sustainably but in most cases, also saving money.</p> <p><strong>1. Body wash</strong></p> <p>Bar soaps use 20 times less energy during packaging production than what liquid soaps require. High energy consumption means a higher carbon footprint. Instead of using liquid soaps, use bar soaps. You will not only have less of an impact on the environment but you will also save money. Zurich’s Institute of Environmental Engineering found that that when people use liquid soaps, they use seven times more product when washing their hands than when they use bar soap. So, it’s quite likely that whenever we use liquid soaps we are overdoing it with the generous amounts we give ourselves.</p> <p><strong>2. Electronic items</strong></p> <p>It’s no surprise that our electronic items are having an impact on the environment and our energy usage. Our households are filled with technological gadgets that we use in our day to day living. Even though you need to use these items, you can be strategic to save as much energy as people. Simple steps like not leaving your TV or computer on standby can make a huge difference. You can also utilise the settings on these products to reduce the pollution. Features such as automatic brightness will adjust your screen to the amount of light that’s in this room, will cut your energy use by up to 50 per cent in some situations. You can adjust your brightness on most TVs, computers, phones and other hand held devices.</p> <p><strong>3. Dishwasher and dryer</strong></p> <p>By creating an organised schedule for the use of your dishwasher and clothes dryer you will save yourself from lots of loads with tiny amounts of clothes and cutlery. Instead of doing tiny rounds throughout the day, you can save money and energy by using these machines at the end of the day and  at the beginning of your morning.</p> <p><strong>4. Coffee pods</strong></p> <p>Certain coffee pods are made from the number seven plastic which isn’t accepted in many recycling plants. The plants also won’t accept the pods If they are filled with coffee so many end up in landfill.</p> <p><strong>5. Aluminium foil</strong></p> <p>Soiled containers can be recycled but aluminium cans and foil cannot. Instead of cooking with aluminium foil, use unbleached baking paper. Also, try to use a different product to wrap your sandwiches and snacks in that isn’t as harmful to the environment.</p> <p>Would you add anything else to the list? Let us know in the comments below. </p>

Home & Garden

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Polluted nuclear site to become tourist destinations

<p>America's most polluted nuclear weapons production site is now its newest national park.</p> <p>Thousands of people are expected next year to tour the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, home of the world's first full-sized nuclear reactor, near Richland, about 200 miles east of Seattle in south-central Washington.</p> <p>They won't be allowed anywhere near the nation's largest collection of toxic radioactive waste.</p> <p>"Everything is clean and perfectly safe," said Colleen French, the US Department of Energy's program manager for the Hanford park. "Any radioactive materials are miles away."</p> <p>The Manhattan Project National Historic Park, signed into existence in November, also includes sites at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Los Alamos, New Mexico. The Manhattan Project is the name for the US effort to build an atomic bomb during World War II.</p> <p>At Hanford, the main attractions will be B Reactor - the world's first full-sized reactor - along with the ghost towns of Hanford and White Bluffs, which were evacuated by the government to make room for the Manhattan Project.</p> <p>The B Reactor was built in about one year and produced plutonium for the Trinity test blast in New Mexico and for the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, that led to the surrender of the Japanese.</p> <p>Starting in 1943, more than 50,000 people from across the United States arrived at the top-secret Hanford site to perform work whose purpose few knew, French said.</p> <p>The 300 residents of Richland were evicted and that town became a bedroom community for the adjacent Hanford site, skyrocketing in population. Workers laboured around the clock to build reactors and processing plants to make plutonium, a key ingredient in nuclear weapons.</p> <p>The park will tell the story of those workers, plus the scientists who performed groundbreaking research and the residents who were displaced, said Chip Jenkins of the National Park Service, which is jointly developing the park with the Energy Department.</p> <p>"The intention of the park is to tell the full and complex and convoluted story," Jenkins said. That story is still being developed, but will certainly include a Japanese perspective, he said.</p> <p>"What happened at B Reactor changed the course of human history," Jenkins said. "They went from sparsely populated ranching communities to the first packet of plutonium over the course of 18 months."</p> <p>Eventually, nine reactors were built at Hanford and operated during the Cold War to make plutonium for the US. nuclear arsenal. That work created more than 56 million gallons of radioactive waste that the government still spends more than $1 billion a year to maintain and clean up.</p> <p>While details of the new national park are still being worked out, French said, the Energy Department will continue its tours of the B Reactor and the old town sites that began in 2009 and fill up with some 10,000 visitors a year.</p> <p>The plan is to greatly expand the number of tourists and school groups who visit the site, she said.</p> <p>Tours will occur from April to October, French said. Exhibits at the B Reactor include the exposed face of the reactor and the control room, where many visitors like to sit and be photographed at control panels, she said.</p> <p>The Hanford story is far from over. Jenkins noted that thousands of scientists and other workers remain active on the Hanford site, inventing and implementing new techniques to clean up the massive volume of nuclear waste.</p> <p>Written by Nicholas K. Geranios. First appeared on <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/" target="_blank"><strong>Stuff.co.nz.</strong></a></span></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/international/2015/12/largest-flower-garden-in-the-world/"><strong><em>14 images from the world’s largest flower garden</em></strong></a></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/international/2016/01/how-i-drove-a-motorhome-around-the-world/"><strong><em>When I retired I drove a motorhome around the world</em></strong></a></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/international/2015/12/shibuya-pedestrian-crossing-japan/">The busiest pedestrian crossing in the world</a></em></strong></span></p>

International Travel

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