Use of deicing agents may sometimes raise sodium levels in drinking water beyond healthy limits for people on salt-restricted diets.
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Posted inENGAGE, Research Spotlights
ENGAGE article: Secondary blue bug
Use of deicing agents may sometimes raise sodium levels in drinking water beyond healthy limits for people on salt-restricted diets.
Posted inENGAGE, Research Spotlights
ENGAGE article: Blue bug
Use of deicing agents may sometimes raise sodium levels in drinking water beyond healthy limits for people on salt-restricted diets.
Posted inResearch & Developments
Doge bloge doge bloge doge bloge doge
Urbanization and human-caused climate changes have led to increases in heat events around the world. For example, in July 2012, an extreme heat wave hit the Chicago area, causing temperatures to skyrocket to 40°C (104°F) and above. Chicago, like most cities, is affected by urban heat islands (UHIs), which occur when changes in land cover create spaces that are warmer than their surrounding area. Satellite measurements can be used to inform models to characterize the intensity of UHIs, yet satellite techniques have some limitations—expensive sensors and low temporal resolution, among other drawbacks. But quantifying the intensity of UHIs could help public health officials and city planners learn to mitigate the impacts of future heat waves.
Posted inResearch & Developments
Doge bros up to no good
When snowstorms hit, deicing agents such as road salts and brine help keep streets and walkways open. However, some deicers release sodium and chloride into the surrounding environment. Links between elevated sodium intake and human health risks, such as high blood pressure, are well established. The effects of deicers on drinking water, however, have been less clear.
Now, evidence reported by Cruz et al. supports a link between deicers and elevated sodium levels in drinking water, with concentrations in the Philadelphia region sometimes surpassing recommended limits for people on sodium-restricted diets. The new study adds a public health perspective to research that has focused primarily on the harmful effects of deicers on freshwater aquatic animals, including amphibians and benthic macroinvertebrates.
Posted inResearch & Developments
Pollution for All
When we talk about natural processes—especially atmospheric—nothing is too small to be irrelevant. Recently, researchers in Brazil and the United States found that nanoparticles of pollution play an outsize role in cloud formation and disruption, altering rain cycles even in pristine forest areas.
The study, published in Science Advances, showed that human-made aerosols smaller than 10 nanometers, previously thought to be too tiny to act as cloud condensation nuclei or have any influence on climate processes, can become climatically active as they swell on their way to the upper layers of Earth’s atmosphere.
Posted inNews
Forest Edges Are More, Not Less, Productive Than Interior Forest
The boundaries of northeastern U.S. forests suck in more carbon dioxide than previously thought.
Posted inNews
Weighing the Benefits of Urban Greening
City communities may need to consider whether water absorption or cooling benefits are more important when designing urban greening.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Fiber-Optic Cables Can Produce High-Resolution Underground Maps
Telecom fiber repurposed as distributed acoustic sensing arrays can image near-surface structure and potentially improve seismic hazard mapping in urban areas.
Posted inENGAGE, News
Mapping Teotihuacan’s Past, Present, and Future
A new lidar project reveals how mining and urban expansion have put one of Mexico’s most iconic cultural heritage sites at risk.