October 24, 2018

Good Morning,

I have a lot of good news today! A study has shown that air pollution deaths are down by half in the last two decades and students in London are helping scientists determine what sound is made when solar storms collide with Earth's magnetosphere.

Learn about this and more interesting stories from the scientific community in today's issue.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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*-- Study: Air pollution deaths in U.S. dropped by half between 1990, 2010 --*

Over the course of two decades, from 1990 to 2000, the number of deaths attributed to air pollution has been cut in half.

The new study, published Friday in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, is only the latest to show pollution protections have had a positive impact on humans and environmental health.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina developed a model capable of estimating the number of deaths caused by air pollution each year. The statistical model relies on previous research into the health effects of air pollution. The model is populated using measurements of PM2.5 and ozone.

Particulate matter measuring less than 2.5 microns across can be inhaled deep into the lungs. The pollution has been linked with a variety of human ailments, including lung disease, heart disease, stroke and cancer.

The simulation looked at the relationship between ozone and PM2.5 concentrations and population declines in cities across the United States. CDC data helped the simulation identify the number of deaths attributable to air pollution.

According to the model, deaths caused by air pollution declined by 49 percent between 1990 and 2010.

"These health improvements likely have continued beyond 2010 as we observe that air pollutant concentrations have continued to decrease," researcher Yuqiang Zhang said in a news release.

Research published last month determined environmental regulations were largely to thank for improving air quality during the latter half of the 20th century.

Though good news, the results of the latest study offer a reminder of the pollution's pervasive impact on human health. The simulation showed 1 in every 35 deaths in the U.S. can be at least partially attributed to air pollution.

Previous studies have shown air pollution shortens global life expectancy by at least a year.

"Even though we've seen some tangible success, there are still people dying, and a public health challenge remains going forward," said Jason West, professor of environmental sciences and engineering at the UNC. "New federal policies curtailing air pollution regulations likely will slow the improvement in air quality or possibly make air quality worse."

*-- Students help scientist ID the sonic signatures of solar storms --*

What does it sound like when solar storms collide with Earth's magnetosphere? Students in London are helping scientists find out.

Earth's magnetic field features a near-constant cacophony of low-frequency sound waves -- too low-pitched to be discernible to the human ear. But by speeding up audio recordings of the magnetosphere, researchers at London's Queen Mary University made the sound wave audible.

A group of 12 students at Eltham Hill School in south east London helped scientists identify sound wave patterns that lowered in pitch over the course of several days. Scientists identified a connection between the wave patterns and electromagnetic disturbances that occur in the wake of a coronal mass ejection, or solar storm.

The new research, published this week in the journal Space Weather, suggests these disturbances -- and their sonic effects -- are more common than previously thought.

"The findings could transform the field, enabling more members of the public to contribute to research just by listening to data and finding things that scientists might have missed," Martin Archer, space physicist at Queen Mary's School of Physics and Astronomy, said in a news release. "We hope that this becomes more widespread since we are living in the age of big data."

While low-frequency waves can be recorded and studied using special recording devices and computers, translating the data for interpretation through human ears enabled scientists to gain a fresh perspective and uncover a previously ignored phenomenon.

The research suggests scientists have been ignoring a novel mechanism for energy transfer between the sun and Earth.

"Making data audible is uncommon and when done so is typically used only by the researchers themselves. Involving the public in undertaking research, known as citizen science, tends to focus on crowdsourcing data or analysis unlike this more explorative method," Archer said. "However, the study shows that useful and unexpected scientific results can come from this combined approach."

Scientists hope followup studies will help them better understand the nature of the electromagnetic disturbances that produce the sonic patterns identified by students.


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