ENN
Environmental News Network -- Know Your Environment
A new WHO air quality model confirms that 92% of the world's population lives in places where air quality levels exceed WHO limits. Some 3 million deaths a year are linked to exposure to outdoor air pollution. Indoor air pollution can be just as deadly. In 2012, an estimated 6.5 million deaths (11.6% of all global deaths) were associated with indoor and outdoor air pollution together.
Ha sido una creencia común que los vehículos de bajas emisiones, como los híbridos y coches eléctricos, son más caros que otras opciones. Pero un nuevo estudio revela que cuando los costos de operación y mantenimiento se incluyen en el precio de un vehículo, los coches más limpios en realidad pueden ser una mejor apuesta.
It has been a common belief that low-emissions vehicles, like hybrids and electric cars, are more expensive than other choices. But a new study finds that when operating and maintenance costs are included in a vehicle's price, cleaner cars may actually be a better bet.
California está probando si su tráfico pesado puede producir no sólo emisiones y contaminación del aire, sino también electricidad. La Comisión de Energía del Estado informa que invertirá $ 2 millones de dólares para examinar el potencial de utilizar cristales piezoeléctricos incorporados bajo el asfalto como una forma de enviar la energía creada por los coches en movimiento a la red.
California is testing whether its heavy traffic can produce not just emissions and air pollution, but electricity. The state’s Energy Commission says it will spend $2 million to examine the potential of using piezoelectric crystals embedded under asphalt as a way to send the energy created by moving cars to the grid.
Around the world -- from tundra to tropical forests, and a variety of ecosystems in between -- environmental researchers have set up micrometeorological towers to monitor carbon, water, and energy fluxes, which are measurements of how carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor and energy (heat) circulate between the soil, plants and atmosphere. Most of these sites have been continuously collecting data, some for nearly 25 years, monitoring ecosystem-level changes through periods of extreme droughts and rising global temperatures. Each of these sites contributes to a regional network -- i.e. the European Network (Euroflux) or the Americas Network (AmeriFlux) -- and the regional networks together comprise a global network called FLUXNET.
