air pollution
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Indoor Climbing Gyms Might Be Chock Full of Toxic Rubber Additives, Study Finds
Climbing gyms might be teeming with toxic rubber particles, recent research suggests. The study found high levels of rubber additives in the air and dust of two climbing gyms, likely coming from the soles of specialized climbing shoes worn by gym goers. The authors say that customers and workers might be getting exposed to more…
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Metals from Rockets and Satellites Are Polluting Earth’s Upper Atmosphere
Around 11 miles above Earth’s surface, leftover bits from rockets and spacecraft are lingering in our planet’s atmosphere that could potentially have a lasting effect on the climate. A group of scientists flew a sensitive tool attached to the nose of a special research plane, sniffing out aerosols in the atmosphere. They found significant amounts…
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Sooty Emissions from Private Space Flight Are Way Worse Than We Thought
I don’t know about you, but when Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson were caught in their race to be the first billionaire in space, I wasn’t excited. It didn’t feel like a great leap forward for humanity or anything lofty like that. Instead, it just felt like a bunch of rich kids finding a new…
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Rocket Launches Could Be Polluting Our Atmosphere in New and Unexpected Ways
SpaceX, Blue Origin, and a host of other private companies helped to make 2021 the year with the most space launches in history, but scientists say this mad dash to space could be causing further damage to our atmosphere.