What is air pollution? Learn how greenhouse gasses, smog, and toxic pollutants effect climate change, and human health. By National Geographic

Air Quality and Traffic

Electric vehicles are a crucial part of the puzzle to clean up emissions from the transportation sector. They have lower carbon emissions from manufacturing and charging than gasoline powered vehicles, reduce harmful tailpipe pollution, and are cheaper to charge and maintain than gasoline cars. This video was designed and created by Faffs Riederer. Faffs is a Union of Concerned Scientist Science Network member, a climate activist, and artist studying to become a transportation planner based in Tucson, Arizona. You can find more of their work at faffsriederer.wordpess.com and follow them on twitter @FaffsRiederer Click here to learn more about the emissions from charging an electric vehicle in your state: https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-reichmut… Click here to learn about the consumer benefits from owning an EV in your state: https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/stat… Click here to learn more about the inequitable public health risks from traffic-related air pollution: https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-reichmut… Click here to learn about consumer preferences for buying new vehicles: https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/surv…

Air pollution: let’s analyse, clean, and deliver | Matthew Johnson

A modern day superhero, Matthew works everyday to reduce people’s exposure to air pollution. In his talk, he discusses this invisible threat to society, and offers an innovative solution to analyse and clean the air in some of the most polluted parts of our cities. Matthew Johnson is Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen and co-founder of and Chief Science Officer at Airlabs, a company made up of a team of atmospheric chemists and airflow engineers devoted to reducing people’s exposure to air pollution; they do this by designing flexible, low powered, low maintenance air cleaning installations. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

A NASA study explains how to purify air with house plants

How do houseplants clean the air? A 1989 NASA study explains exactly how plants remove toxins from air by trapping them in their leaves, soil, and roots, and which houseplants clean air the best. The study was designed to test air purification systems for the space station. SUBSCRIBE: https://goo.gl/kdDpXu If you’re interested in learning more about the NASA study or the plants involved, check out the original papers on the subject: http://www.wolvertonenvironmental.com… https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ca… And if you want to buy the last plant? It’s scientific name is Sansevieria laurentii, but common names are both snake plant and mother in law’s tongue.

Green Walls:

The term green walls encompasses all forms of vegetated wall surfaces. However, there are three major system categories that fall under this term: green facades, living walls, and retaining living walls.

How to create a living wall in your home

Living walls. Green walls. Vertical gardens. You’ve seen them in the lobbies of hotels or corporate offices and possibly even the atriums of airports and shopping centers. Usually mounted on the interior or exterior walls of buildings, these vertical installations can vary in size and shape and offer a refreshingly green space experience that functions as living wall art while providing all the benefits of nature. They have become increasingly popular in the last eight years in the U.S. and are becoming more common in residential homes and apartment buildings, especially in cities where space is limited.

“Green walls” against air pollution

Planting vegetation along streets in the city might reduce air pollution better than assumed so far, that is by up to 30 percent instead of one to two percent. This finding was made by Dr. Thomas Pugh, now working at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), and his colleagues from the universities of Birmingham and Lancaster. The scientists published their results in the Environmental Science and Technology journal.

Living Green Walls 101: Their Benefits and How They’re Made

Living green walls may have gotten their start 80 years ago, but they’ve recently become some of the most striking and important eco-friendly features in buildings across the world.

Green roofs

A green roof system is an extension of the existing roof which involves, at a minimum, high quality waterproofing, root repellent system, drainage system, filter cloth, a lightweight growing medium, and plants.

Green roof systems may be modular, with drainage layers, filter cloth, growing media, and plants already prepared in movable, often interlocking grids, or loose laid/built-up whereby each component of the system may be installed separately. Green roofs can be defined as “contained” green space on top of a human-made structure. This green space could be below, at, or above grade, but in all cases it exists separate from the ground. Green roofs can provide a wide range of public and private benefits and have been successfully installed in countries around the world.

Planting Seeds for Clean Air

Whether moving into a new building or just bringing a product home for the first time, you might smell some of that “new mattress/rug/clothes smell.” That smell might be a marker of something new and exciting, but it comes from toxic VOCs released during manufacturing. Not to fear— bring some new houseplants in to help! Plants have the incredible potential to improve your air quality. Outside, plants can improve soil health, too.

 Trees Tested as Pollutant Traps: Wind tunnel experiments demonstrate that leaves trap considerable numbers of particles with a diameter less than 100 nanometers. The group put nine tree species through their paces, with three clear winners in the top tier, the study, published May 16 in Environmental Science & Technology, finds.

Harmful Emissions from Traffic, Trucks and SUVs:  A new study reveals that emissions from nearby traffic can greatly increase concentrations of key air pollutants, with highly polluting trucks making a major contribution.

Overview: Diesel Exhaust and Health:  Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM) is typically composed of carbon particles (“soot”, also called black carbon, or BC) and numerous organic compounds, including over 40 known cancer-causing organic substances. Although progress has been made over the past decade in reducing exposure to diesel exhaust, diesel exhaust still poses substantial risks to public health and the environment. Efforts to reduce DPM exposure through use of cleaner-burning diesel fuel, retrofitting engines with particle-trapping filters, introduction of new, advanced technologies that reduce particle emissions, and use of alternative fuels are approaches that are being explored and implemented.

Air pollution from truck traffic and lung function in children living near motorways: (Link is to a PubMed Abstract) A study of children in six areas located near major motorways in the Netherlands, measuring lung function in the children, and assessing their exposure to traffic-related air pollution using separate traffic counts for automobiles and trucks. Air pollution We also measured in the children’s schools. Lung function was associated with truck traffic density but had a lesser association with automobile traffic density. The results indicate that exposure to traffic-related air pollution, in particular diesel exhaust particles, may lead to reduced lung function in children living near major motorways.

Dr. Haofei Yu, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, University of Central Florida, [email protected]

Topics: Air pollution emission estimation, especially transportation, traffic, and diesel emissions; Urban air quality management (air scrubbing, air quality monitors, trees, living walls, electric transportation; diesel emissions, indoor air quality)

Air pollution exposure estimation; Health impact (asthma; respiratory health and air pollution)

Dr. Amy L. Stuart, Ph.D.

Professor, University of South Florida, [email protected] 

Topics: Air Quality (Air Quality monitors, air scrubbers, traffic, diesel emissions, and air quality; Sustainable Urban Design (Living walls, Trees, Urban forests)

Basil V. Iannone III, Ph.D.

School of Forest Resources and Conservation

 University of Florida, [email protected] 

Francisco J. Escobedo 

Research Social Scientist

Los Angeles Center for Urban Natural Resources Sustainability

Phone: 951-680-1544

Topics: Urban forest and diesel and traffic emissions

EPA Speakers’ Bureau   

Speakers can be requested at the following website for virtual presentations: https://www.epa.gov/rtp-speakers-bureau/epa-rtp-speakers-presentations

Sonia W. Tong Agao 

Public health topics

George Woodall, PhD:

Assessing Risk: Are the Benefits Worth the Risk (Grades 9-12 & Community, 45 mins, Availability Flexible)

General Science: Will Build to suit audience, Duration: Flexible, Availability: Flexible