Our Ancestors Were Bedeviled By Air Pollution As Well So Fending Off Negative Health Effects Could Be In Our DNA
Some scientists argue that dealing with air pollutants like heavy dust even before the advent of manufacturing and cars could have shaped how humans evolved to be immune or susceptible to its negatives health effects. Other environmental health news looks at drinking water, temperatures and injuries, and lead.
The New York Times:
Why Is Air Pollution So Harmful? DNA May Hold The Answer
The threat of air pollution grabs our attention when we see it — for example, the tendrils of smoke of Australian brush fires, now visible from space, or the poisonous soup of smog that descends on cities like New Delhi in the winter. But polluted air also harms billions of people on a continuing basis. Outdoors, we breathe in toxins delivered by car traffic, coal-fired plants and oil refineries. Indoor fires for heat and cooking taint the air for billions of people in poor countries. Over a billion people add toxins to their lungs by smoking cigarettes — and more recently, by vaping. (Zimmer, 1/13)
Grist:
‘I’ve Quit Drinking The Water’: What It’s Like To Live Next To America’s Largest Coal Plant
Without Tony Bowdoin’s grandfather, Georgia Power might never have come to the quiet town of Juliette. The central Georgia hamlet, just off the Ocmulgee River and a little over an hour’s drive south of Atlanta, is mostly known as home to some of the state’s best shoal bass fishing. Juliette’s only other claim to fame is its turn as the setting for the 1991 Oscar-nominated film Fried Green Tomatoes. (Blau, 1/13)
CNN:
Warmer Temperatures Linked To Increase In Injury Deaths In US, Study Says
A temperature increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit -- as predicted under the Paris Climate Agreement without a mitigation plan -- would cause an additional 1,600 injury deaths every year in the United States, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine. The majority of those deaths, 84%, would impact men, the study said. (Lin Erdman, 1/13)
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
City Council Gives OK For Cleveland To Seek SCHIP Funding To Abate Lead Issues In Up To 20 Homes
City Council gave its approval Monday for the city to pursue $500,000 from the state that would pay to help eliminate lead contamination issues in up to 20 houses in Cleveland. The grant would target homes where Medicaid-eligible children live. Lead contamination in homes can cause brain damage in children, who often are exposed to the toxin in older houses such as those found in Cleveland. (Higgs, 1/13)
