Taken as a share of the market price, the climate change impacts of mining the digital cryptocurrency Bitcoin is more comparable to the impacts of extracting and refining crude oil than mining gold, according to an analysis published in Scientific Reports by researchers at The University of New Mexico. The authors suggest that rather than being considered akin to ‘digital gold’, Bitcoin ...

Exposure to air pollution in the first six months of life impacts a child’s inner world of gut bacteria, or microbiome, in ways that could increase risk of allergies, obesity and diabetes, and even influence brain development, suggests new CU Boulder research. “This study adds to the growing body of literature showing that air pollution exposure, even during infancy, may ...

The impact of breathing diesel exhaust fumes may be more severe for females than males, according to new research that will be presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Barcelona, Spain [1]. Researchers looked for changes in people’s blood brought about by exposure to diesel exhaust. In both females and males, they found changes in components of the ...

There is good evidence that polluted air increases the risk of respiratory problems such as asthma — as well as organ inflammation, worsening of diabetes and other life-threatening conditions. But new research suggests air pollution can also fuel something else: chronic kidney disease, or CKD, which occurs when a person’s kidneys become damaged or cannot filter blood properly. Recently published ...

China and India together contributed for more than half of the total global deaths due to air pollution in 2015, said a study by the U.S.-based Health Effects Institute (HEI). The report showed that air pollution caused more than 4.2 million deaths in 2015, making it the fifth highest cause of death. But just two countries – India and China ...