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Categories: Biology: Marine, Geoscience: Environmental Issues

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One consequence of the coronavirus pandemic has been global restrictions on mobility. This, in turn, has had an effect on pollution levels in the atmosphere. Researchers from across the world are using this unique opportunity to take measurements, collect data, and publish studies. An international team has now published a comprehensive review providing an overview of results up to September 2020.

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When winter storms threaten to make travel dangerous, people often turn to salt to melt snow and ice. Road salt is an important tool for safety, but a new study warns that introducing salt into the environment -- for de-icing roads, fertilizing farmland or other purposes -- releases toxic chemical cocktails that create a serious and growing global threat to our freshwater supply and human health.

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A group of researchers has taken advantage of different erosion rates and investigated how uplift and erosion of rocks determine the balance of carbon emissions and uptake. The surprising result: at high erosion rates, weathering processes release carbon dioxide; at low erosion rates, they sequester carbon from the atmosphere.

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A current study by scientists sheds light on an unusual interdependence: Maize can attract special soil bacteria that, in turn, help the plants to grow better. In the long term, the results could be used to breed new varieties that use less fertilizer and therefore have less impact on the environment.

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Scientists have created a reusable, biodegradable sponge that can readily soak up oil and other organic solvents from contaminated water sources, making it a promising alternative for tackling marine oil spills. Made of sunflower pollen, the sponge is hydrophobic thanks to its coat of natural fatty acid. In lab experiments, the scientists showed the sponge's ability to absorb oil contaminants of various densities, such as gasoline and motor oil, at a rate comparable to that of commercial oil absorbents.

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A new study has shown that ozone in the lower layers of the atmosphere decreases crop yields in maize and changes the types of chemicals that are found inside the leaves.

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Organic aerosol pollutants have decreased in the Los Angeles area due to strict vehicle emissions controls, but aerosol levels still rise in hot weather to unhealthful levels. While some attribute these aerosols to household cleaning products, researchers have identified a more probable cause: chemicals emitted by vegetation. Given the number of trees in LA, like the isoprene-emiting Mexican fan palm, it's likely that 25% of organic aerosols are from plants.

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The ocean, a longtime reservoir for CFC-11, will become a source of the ozone-depleting chemical by middle of next century.

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A new study demonstrates that under realistic environmental conditions oil drifting in the ocean after the DWH oil spill photooxidized into persistent compounds within hours to days, instead over long periods of time as was thought during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This is the first model results to support the new paradigm of photooxidation that emerged from laboratory research.

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Nearly all of the Red Snapper sampled in the Gulf of Mexico over a six-year period following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill showed evidence of liver damage.

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Polymer scientists have developed a polymer membrane from biobased malic acid. It is a superamphiphilic vitrimer epoxy resin membrane that can be used to separate water and oil. This membrane is fully recyclable. When the pores are blocked by foulants, it can be depolymerized, cleaned and subsequently pressed into a new membrane.

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Researchers have found that nitrogen-fixing legume trees can support themselves and surrounding trees not only with increased access to nitrogen, but with other key nutrients through enhanced mineral weathering.

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Putting a price on producing carbon is the cheapest, most efficient policy change legislators can make to reduce emissions that cause climate change, new research suggests.

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Health impacts from a 2010 spill are found even in dolphins born years later.

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Recently, the ozone season in China has been getting longer, spreading from summer into early spring and late winter. The COVID-19 lockdown can help explain why. Researchers found that decreases in NOx emissions are driving increased ozone pollution in late winter in China.

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Researchers have analysed decades' worth of data on the impact of repeated fires on ecosystems across the world. Their results show that repeated fires are driving long-term changes to tree communities and reducing their population sizes.

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Normally, we think of the freezing point of water as 32°F - but in the world of weather forecasting and hydrologic prediction, that isn't always the case. In the Lake Tahoe region of the Sierra Nevada, the shift from snow to rain during winter storms may actually occur at temperatures closer to 39.5°F, according to new research from the Desert Research Institute (DRI), Lynker Technologies, and citizen scientists from the Tahoe Rain or Snow project.

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Analysis of records for more than 63 million Medicare enrollees from 2000 to 2016 finds long-term exposure to air pollution had a significant impact on the number of people hospitalized for cardiac and respiratory conditions. Researchers examined three components of air pollution: fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. Even levels lower than national standards affected heart and respiratory illnesses.

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A study has found long-term impacts of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico on bottlenose dolphins' immune function.

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Global emissions of a potent substance notorious for depleting the Earth's ozone layer -- the protective barrier which absorbs the Sun's harmful UV rays -- have fallen rapidly and are now back on the decline, according to new research.