All articles tagged with #health impacts
Neanderthal DNA, inherited through ancient interbreeding with modern humans, influences various aspects of our health and physical traits today, including skin color, immune response, and susceptibility to certain diseases, while also offering insights into human evolution.
The report updates on plastic pollution, highlighting that without urgent global action, plastic entering the environment will nearly double by 2040, causing severe health, environmental, and climate impacts. It emphasizes the need for transformative policies to reduce plastic production, improve waste management, and shift towards a circular economy to mitigate these risks and create economic opportunities.
Clocks fall back this Sunday, but Congress remains divided over whether to end seasonal time changes, with ongoing debates about health, safety, and convenience, and some states pushing for permanent standard or daylight saving time.
Changing clocks for daylight saving time can negatively affect health, increasing risks of heart attacks, strokes, mood disorders, and traffic accidents, especially when clocks are moved forward in spring, due to disruption of circadian rhythms and sleep patterns. The autumn shift appears less harmful, but still has some risks. Overall, the health benefits of DST are questionable, and some experts suggest eliminating it altogether.
A recent study has found microplastics deep inside human bones, including bone marrow, and suggests they may harm health by impairing cell viability, accelerating aging, and potentially contributing to bone diseases like osteoporosis, prompting further research into their impact on bone health and fractures.
New research suggests that daylight saving time may negatively affect long-term health by disrupting circadian rhythms, potentially increasing the risk of obesity and stroke, and that adopting permanent standard time could reduce these health issues.
The 2023 Canadian wildfires burned a record amount of forest, significantly increasing PM2.5 pollution globally, affecting air quality and causing an estimated 5,400 acute and 82,100 chronic deaths worldwide, with impacts reaching North America, Europe, and beyond, highlighting the extensive health and environmental consequences of large-scale wildfires.
Over the past 80 years, more than 2,000 nuclear tests have left lasting health and environmental impacts on communities worldwide, especially those downwind of testing sites, with increased cancer risks and ongoing contamination issues, highlighting the long-term consequences of nuclear proliferation and testing.
Recent studies reveal that the health toll of the Maui and LA wildfires extends beyond immediate fatalities, with significant increases in lung damage, mental health issues, and indirect deaths such as suicides and overdoses, highlighting the extensive and lasting human health impacts of these climate-driven disasters.
A report in The Lancet warns that plastic pollution causes significant health issues across all ages, costing at least $1.5 trillion annually, and calls for an international treaty to address the crisis, highlighting the link between plastic and climate change.
Wildfire smoke, containing toxic gases, particulate matter, and potentially microbial pathogens, poses serious health risks beyond respiratory issues, including cardiovascular, neurological, and mental health effects, with research emphasizing the need for protective measures and further study.
A study by researchers from UC Riverside and Caltech highlights the significant air pollution and health impacts associated with AI-related electricity consumption, predicting that by 2030, AI could cause 1,300 additional premature deaths annually in the U.S. due to increased emissions from data centers and diesel generators. The study estimates AI's public-health costs could reach $20 billion, with emissions potentially rivaling those from California's cars. The researchers call for greater transparency from tech companies regarding the air-pollution impacts of their AI operations.
Daylight saving time ends on November 3, with clocks set back an hour, marking the transition to standard time in the U.S. This practice, aimed at extending daylight during summer, has been in place since 1918 but remains controversial. While some states and countries do not observe it, efforts to make daylight saving time permanent, like the Sunshine Protection Act, have stalled in Congress. Health experts express concerns about permanent daylight saving time due to potential misalignment with solar time, which could impact sleep and health.
A severe heat wave in India has led to record-breaking temperatures, with parts of Delhi reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Rochester, insulated by its location and cooler northern air, experiences milder heat waves. Extreme heat, caused by stagnant high-pressure systems, poses significant health risks, especially for vulnerable populations. Climate change may exacerbate these conditions, with regions like India potentially seeing higher temperature increases than the global average.
The EPA has announced the first national regulation limiting the amount of PFAS, or "forever chemicals," in drinking water, requiring public water utilities to test for six different types of PFAS chemicals to reduce exposure. The new standards aim to reduce PFAS exposure for 100 million people and prevent thousands of deaths and illnesses, with $1 billion available to states and territories for PFAS testing and treatment. While critics argue that the regulation doesn't go far enough, the EPA estimates that 6-10% of public water utility systems may need to act to comply with the regulations, with operators having three years to test for PFAS pollution and an additional two years to install necessary treatment technology.