damage | Common News Update

Mar62021 by adminNo Comments

Wildfire smoke particles cause more lung damage than other pollution sources

Health

March 5 (UPI) -- The fine particles in wildfire smoke are up to 10 times more harmful to human lungs than pollution from other sources, such as car exhaust, an analysis published Friday by the journal Nature Communications found. Every 10 microgram-per-cubic meter increase in particulate matter -- the hazardous microscopic particles found in dust, pollen, smoke and soot, car exhaust and industrial emissions -- led to a 1% rise in hospital admissions for breathing problems, the data showed. Advertisement Higher levels of particulate matter in wildfire smoke, however, resulted in a 1.3% to 10% increase in hospitalizations for respiratory issues. The findings are based on an analysis of air pollution from wildfires and other sources in Southern California between 1999 and 2012. The region ha...

Feb112021 by adminNo Comments

Toxic air puts six million at risk of lung damage

Science

About six million people aged over 65 in England are at high risk of lung damage and asthma attacks because of toxic air, according to a new report. It finds that older people and those with lung disease who are most vulnerable to the effects of pollution are often the most exposed. The new document is from the British Lung Foundation (BLF) and Asthma UK. It comes as MPs also demand the government sets tougher targets for air pollution.Improving air quality needs to be "at the core" of the UK's post-pandemic rebuild, say members of a House of Commons committee that focuses on environmental issues.The new report by two of the UK's leading respiratory charities finds that a quarter of all care homes and a third of all GP practices and hospitals in England are in places where particulate poll...

Dec192020 by adminNo Comments

Damage from border wall: blown-up mountains, toppled cactus

Technology

GUADALUPE CANYON, Ariz. -- Work crews ignite dynamite blasts in the remote and rugged southeast corner of Arizona, forever reshaping the landscape as they pulverize mountaintops in a rush to build more of President Donald Trump’s border wall before his term ends next month.Each blast in Guadalupe Canyon releases puffs of dust as workers level land to make way for 30-foot-tall (9-meter-tall) steel columns near the New Mexico line. Heavy machines crawl over roads gouged into rocky slopes while one tap-tap-taps open holes for posts on U.S. Bureau of Land Management property.Trump has expedited border wall construction in his last year, mostly in wildlife refuges and Indigenous territory the government owns in Arizona and New Mexico, avoiding the legal fights over private land in busier crossi...

Nov252020 by adminNo Comments

Berlin police: Car hits chancellery gate, little damage

World

Berlin police say a car crashed into the front gate of the German chancellery building housing Angela Merkel’s offices on Wednesday morning but appears to have caused little damageByThe Associated PressNovember 25, 2020, 10:03 AM• 2 min readShare to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleBERLIN -- Berlin police say a car crashed into the front gate of the German chancellery building housing Angela Merkel's offices on Wednesday morning but appears to have caused little damage.Spokesman Hartmut Paeth said police are on the scene investigating the incident but had no details about injuries or arrests.Rescue crews on the scene confirmed the man driving the car was being treated in an ambulance that remained in front of the chancellery.The car, a Volkswagen sedan, had the slogan “You damned ...

Nov92020 by adminNo Comments

Arecibo Observatory incurs more damage as another support cable snaps

Science

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 9 (UPI) -- A main cable that supports Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico broke over the weekend, compounding damage caused by a smaller cable failure in August, according to the University of Central Florida in Orlando, which manages the facility. "It broke and fell onto the reflector dish below, causing additional damage to the dish and other nearby cables," the university said in a statement about the incident Friday evening. Advertisement "No one was hurt, and engineers are already working to determine the best way to stabilize the structure," the statement said. Few additional details and no new photos were available Sunday because the facility restricted access to the area around the 18-acre dish, the university said. UCF submitted a request recently to the Natio...