Exposure to air pollution in childhood increases diabetes 2 risk

Air pollution is particularly hazardous for children and those children who live in areas with high levels of air pollutants in the air are more susceptible to variety of different diseases with one of them also being the diabetes 2.

This has been confirmed by the German scientists at the Helmholtz Zentrum München who have concluded that the children that are growing up in areas where air pollution is increased are more susceptible to the risk of insulin resistance (the precursor to diabetes).

This is due to the oxidative stress caused by exposure to air pollutants leading to the development of insulin resistance. Furthermore the long term exposure to particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide can also lead to increased insulin resistance.

This study showed that insulin resistance levels tended to increase with increasing air pollution exposure and that the levels of insulin resistance were greater in children that were more exposed to air pollution. Also, the proximity to the nearest major road increased insulin resistance by 7% per 500 meters showing yet another negative health effect of traffic-related air pollution.

What this study undoubtedly shows is that being exposed to long-term air pollution as a child significantly increases the risk for the development of diabetes in adults. On the broader scale of things this study is just one in the series of the studies showing that clean air is one of the major prerequisites to healthy life.

Air pollution is therefore not only major environmental issue, it is also a very important health issue. What this means is that our entire society should care more greatly about the degrading air quality in many areas of the world.

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Isoprene makes trees contribute to air pollution

There still doesn't seem to exist a unified scientific consensus about the connection between the trees and smog, or air pollution in general. The well known fact on this matter is that trees produce and emit isoprene that is known to protect leaves from oxygen damage and temperature fluctuations. The latest interesting research on this topic comes from the US scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In this study researchers concluded that isoprene once exposed to sun is chemically altered and reacts with man-made nitrogen oxides (produced from vehicles and fossil fuel fired power plants) to create particulate matter, a rather common air pollutant.

What this means, is that the isoprene, originally produced to protect leaves from the trees, in combination with man-made nitrogen oxides leads to production of harmful air pollutants that can cause significant damage to our environment.

Of course, the solution to this cannot be cutting the trees because trees are beneficial in many ways such as absorbing harmful carbon emissions from the atmosphere. The better solution would be to try to reduce the man-made nitrogen oxide emissions from vehicles and plants.

It is vital knowledge to understand all these mechanisms because this gives researchers a more comprehensive knowledge to make more accurate predictions of air pollution and climate change effects.

There are many other interesting interaction between natural and man-made emissions and science must try to learn as much as possible about them because knowing why something happens makes it lot easier to find the right solution for.

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Small dams are effective against water pollution

The pollution issue is very complex issue to solve because of many different factors and variables involved in the whole pollution story. Every single day a new interesting study pops our broadening the reach of this global issue by adding new factors into the equation. One of the latest factors involved are small dams and reservoirs.

According to a latest study by Steve Powers, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Notre Dame's Environmental Change Initiative small dams and reservoirs play major role in pollution prevention by trapping various water pollutants.

This is said to be of particular importance in agricultural lands of the Midwest U.S., where there are lots of small, but aging dams that are „threatened by long-term structural decline and are also filling with sediment“. This ability of small dams and reservoirs to trap water pollutants is extremely important for the health of our environment because these small dams affect the movement of water and wastes through the environment.

Powers acknowledges that these dams are small individually but their total sum has a global surface area comparable to that of all large reservoirs added together.

This study also showed the negative environmental effects which were manifested in an increase in downstream transport of nutrient pollution after the dam was removed. Small dams affect greatly global water quality and thus we should make certain steps to prevent them disappear.

Many regions from all over the world are vulnerable to water quality changes caused by accumulation of sediment and phosphorus behind dams. Preserving small dams means not only improved water quality but also cleaner and healthier environment.

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China faces major nitrogen pollution issue

Over the last 20 years or so, China has become a global synonym for excessive pollution, especially air pollution. However, very little is known that another dangerous form of pollution is also growing in the world's most populated country - nitrogen pollution.

The recent study that was done by joint work from Stanford Woods Institute and China Agricultural University in Beijing concluded that nitrogen pollution increased by 60 percent annually from the 1980s to the 2000s. The major sources of nitrogen pollution are industry, cars and fertilizers.

The nitrogen pollution occurs once excessive amounts of nitrogen are being deposited on land and water in China by carriers such as rain and dust.

China is today the world's largest emitter of nitrogen. China faces very difficult task at reducing agricultural nutrient pollution while increasing food production.The latest reports suggest that country's consumption of nitrogen as a fertilizer increased threefold from the 1980s to 2000s, in fact country's production and use of nitrogen-based fertilizers is greater than that of the United States and the European Union combined. Not only that, it has been also reported that livestock numbers and coal combustion increased  fourfold, and the number of cars on Chinese roads about twentyfold.

The excessive nitrogen pollution is also one of the factors that contribute to China's poor air quality.  Not only this, the increased amount of nitrogen also leads to degradation of soil and water quality, causes increase in greenhouse gas concentrations and has a negative environmental impact by reducing biological diversity.

China's huge economic growth accompanied by rapid industrialization and agricultural expansion is the major culprit for excessive nitrogen emissions and nitrogen deposition. The solution to halt nitrogen pollution is pretty obvious namely stricter environmental policy focused on improving efficiency in agricultural use of nitrogen as well as reducing nitrogen emissions from including industry and cars. However, obvious does not also mean easy, and once again China will likely be a victim of its own economic success.

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Effective pollution control means our future wellbeing

There is no effective environmental management without the adequate pollution control. In this sense, term pollution control refers to methods and measures that aim to control the introduction of various pollutants into the given environment in order to prevent its contamination and harmful consequences to all living species in the nearby area.

Pollution control means control of emissions and effluents into air, water or soil. Pollution control is extremely important because without it a different waste from various human activities (most notably industry) would enter environment, degrading it into the process.

Term pollution control is also very closely related to term „waste minimization“. In fact, minimizing waste from industrial and other facilities means lot easier pollution control.

Despite the efforts from many countries of the world, pollution levels continue to grow in much of the world, mostly because of our continuous dependence on fossil fuels. What this means is that the global pollution control is still inadequate and needs to upgrade.

The best way to upgrade global pollution control would be to create an independent international body that would enforce strict pollution control standards for all countries of the world. However, before forming this international pollution control body each country should first ensure adequate pollution control mechanisms at domestic level.

The adequate pollution control is really in the interest of each and every one of us because a life without pollution means healthy life and is one of the main prerequisites for our future wellbeing. One of the biggest problems is the fact that human population is rapidly expanding, and more people almost always means more waste and more pollution.

The world, despite living in the 21st century still needs to develop global environmental conscience and start caring more for our environment, and mother Earth in general. The business as usual scenario will see pollution running out of control, putting in jeopardy the wellbeing of our future generations.

We must act, instead of pretending like there is nothing going on. Pollution is major issue, and ignorance is certainly not the solution for it. It never was, and it never will be.

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