• SpaceX Starship Explosion May Have Caused Air Pollution Event

    SpaceX Starship Explosion May Have Caused Air Pollution Event

    When SpaceX’s starship exploded during flight testing on January 16, 2025, researcher Connor Barker estimated that the event may have released about 45.5 tons of metal oxides and 40 tons of reactive nitrogen into the upper atmosphere and may have accounted for as much as 35 percent of the aluminum that enters the atmosphere from…

  • Mongolia strengthens air pollution control in Ulaanbaatar

    Mongolia strengthens air pollution control in Ulaanbaatar

    The Ulaanbaatar Special Command for Air Pollution Control and Infrastructure Development under the leadership of Mongolia’s Prime Minister held a meeting to discuss the progress of implementing major projects to combat traffic congestion and reduce air pollution. The city of Ulaanbaatar plans to implement 22 infrastructural projects, including the construction of the Ulaanbaatar Metro Project,…

  • Air Pollution Following California Fires

    Air Pollution Following California Fires

    On February 3, the “Eaton” and “Palisades” fires, which have ravaged the Los Angeles area since January 7, were “100% contained,” but the smoke and ash from the fires Smoke and ash from the fires have led to high levels of air pollution in the Los Angeles area and the closure of several school districts.…

  • U.S. Toxic Waste Exports Cause Health Crisis for Residents of Canada and Mexico

    U.S. Toxic Waste Exports Cause Health Crisis for Residents of Canada and Mexico

    A joint investigation by The Guardian and the Fifth Element Laboratory, a Mexican non-profit research organization, shows that the United States has exported 1.4 million tons of hazardous waste to Canada over the past five years, an increase of 25%. In the town of Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Canada, a copper smelter that processes electronic waste has…

  • Toxic Rain Hidden Dangers After California Mountain Fires

    Toxic Rain Hidden Dangers After California Mountain Fires

    On January 25, 2025, the Los Angeles, California area of the United States received rainfall after fires that lasted 13 days and caused 28 deaths, hundreds of billions of dollars in property damage, and the destruction of 13,000 homes. Large amounts of smoke and toxic chemicals from the fires not only pollute the air, but…

  • Severe air pollution in Southeast Asia

    Severe air pollution in Southeast Asia

    On January 24, air pollution in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, was so severe that more than 350 local schools were closed and straw burning was banned in Bangkok and surrounding areas. Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment said on January 24 that the air quality in Phnom Penh had reached the level of “severe pollution”.

  • The “Hughes Fire”: an ecological emergency for soils and an erosion crisis

    The “Hughes Fire”: an ecological emergency for soils and an erosion crisis

    On January 22, 2025, the Hughes Fire broke out north of Los Angeles, USA. The fire quickly spread over 8,000 acres (about 32 square kilometers) in just a few hours. The soil was also greatly damaged after the fires. The high temperatures caused the organic matter in the soil to be burned up, the soil…

  • Air quality ‘off the charts’ as fires rage in US, sounding health alarms

    Air quality ‘off the charts’ as fires rage in US, sounding health alarms

    Recent large-scale fires in the U.S. are impacting the environment with an alarming destructive force, releasing large amounts of harmful gases and particulate matter and worsening air quality. In some of the fires in California, the air quality index in the surrounding areas has exploded, and the concentration of PM2.5 and other pollutants has exceeded…

  • Existential Crisis of the Masako Tribe

    Existential Crisis of the Masako Tribe

    For the first time, the Brazilian National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (FUNAI) has made public valuable information on the Masako tribe, which lives in a nature reserve in the northwestern Brazilian state of Rondônia, near the Bolivian border. Although its population has been growing in recent years, it is threatened by agribusiness development, logging, illegal…

  • Many European cities are “besieged” by air pollution during the winter season

    Many European cities are “besieged” by air pollution during the winter season

    During the winter heating season, air pollution indices were exceeded in some European cities such as Krakow in Poland and Prague in the Czech Republic. The main pollutants are fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides, etc. These pollutants cause damage to the human respiratory and cardiovascular systems, leading to an increase in the incidence…