Last year, as wildfires raged in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, visitors to Guadalupe Mountains National Park had to settle for a more limited view when hiking up Guadalupe Peak, Texas’ highest point.

“All summer, there was a haze here,” said Jonena Hearst, the park’s geologist. Even before the fires, she said, visibility had been decreasing slightly over time.

Unavailability of natural gas and destruction of forests and water bodies due to our inability to use our coal fields optimally is having a huge impact on our health and environment

Two monopolies. One private; the other public. One in gas; the other in coal. Both equally disastrous for the environment. I speak here of Reliance Industries Ltd and Coal India Ltd.

India’s dream of providing clean gas-based power stations is turning sour. Three gas-based power plants, including Pragati, Bawana and Rithala in the NCR region, with a combined capacity of over 1,730 MW, have literally “run out of gas”.

With ministry of petroleum and natural gas sources confirming that India’s gas output is expected to fall by 35 per cent in this fiscal year and another 12 per cent between 2013-14, the situation is expected to become alarming this summer.

Doing so has major implications for public health but moving to a market-linked fuel pricing policy makes more sense.

Anumita Roychowdhuryanumita Roychowdhury
Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment*
“The additional taxes on diesel cars can generate resources to produce clean diesel for all segments to meet public health objectives”

Exposure to nitrogen oxides in air causes increased risk of type 2 diabetes and hypertension in African-American women, a new study has revealed.

Researchers from the Slone Epidemiology Centre (SEC) at Boston University assessed the risks of incident hypertension and diabetes associated with exposure to nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM2.5) in a cohort of approximately 4,000 African American women living in Los Angeles.

Environmentalists have come out in strong support of minister for petroleum and natural gas S. Jaipal Reddy’s proposal to impose a 15 per cent duty on all diesel-run passenger vehicles.

The proposal has been sent to the ministry of finance for finalisation. The Kirit Parikh committee had earlier recommended a one-time additional excise tax of `80,000 on diesel cars.

China promised Tuesday to contain heavy metal pollution but admitted it faces a challenge with inadequate environment protection resources in a rapidly growing economy.

China wants to cut its heavy metal pollution by 15 percent of 2007 levels by 2015, whilst keeping non-heavy metal pollution under 2007 levels, the country's cabinet said in a statement on the government's website. (www.gov.cn)

The targets are in line with goals outlined by Beijing earlier this year under a five-year economic blue-print.

The farming industry in the United States is second to none around the world. There are many reasons why US agriculture is so productive such as increased mechanization and refined practices to increase crop yields. Another major reason has to do with the nutrients added to the soil. Unfortunately, the overuse of fertilizer on US cropland has resulted in huge environmental problems. Plant nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus drain into waterways, polluting them and suffocating life by removing the oxygen.

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has found that the Indira Gandhi Airport (IGI) has much higher level of pollution as compared to the Mandir Marg area in central Delhi and RK Puram in South Delhi. A combination of winter fog and calm weather conditions is leading to the perpetual haze enveloping the airport since last week. Also, because the suspended particulate matter is much higher at the Airport than the city side, the haze is thicker at the airport, especially during the morning hours.