Clearing the Air

Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309064961
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 457

Book Description
Since about 1980, asthma prevalence and asthma-related hospitalizations and deaths have increased substantially, especially among children. Of particular concern is the high mortality rate among African Americans with asthma. Recent studies have suggested that indoor exposuresâ€"to dust mites, cockroaches, mold, pet dander, tobacco smoke, and other biological and chemical pollutantsâ€"may influence the disease course of asthma. To ensure an appropriate response, public health and education officials have sought a science-based assessment of asthma and its relationship to indoor air exposures. Clearing the Air meets this need. This book examines how indoor pollutants contribute to asthmaâ€"its causation, prevalence, triggering, and severity. The committee discusses asthma among the general population and in sensitive subpopulations including children, low-income individuals, and urban residents. Based on the most current findings, the book also evaluates the scientific basis for mitigating the effects of indoor air pollutants implicated in asthma. The committee identifies priorities for public health policy, public education outreach, preventive intervention, and further research.

Clearing the Air

Author: Indur M. Goklany
Publisher: Cato Institute
ISBN: 9781882577828
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 212

Book Description
America's air quality is better today than ever before in modern history and continues to steadily improve. How did this remarkable turnaround come about? Basing his conclusions on a painstaking compilation of long-term empirical data on air quality and emissions data extending from the pre- federalization era to the present (some dating back a century), Goklany challenges the orthodoxy that credits federal regulation for improving air quality. He shows that the air had been getting cleaner prior to—and probably would have continued to improve regardless of—federalization. States and localities, after all, have always been engaged in a race to improve the quality of life, which means different things at different stages of economic development. Goklany’s empirical data refute once and for all the race-to-the-bottom rationale for centralized federal regulation. Moreover, technological advances and consumer preferences continue to play important roles in improving air quality. Goklany accordingly offers a regulatory reform agenda that would improve upon the economic efficiency and environmental sensitivity of air quality regulation.

Let's Clear the Air

Author:
Publisher: Lobster Press
ISBN: 9781897073667
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 196

Book Description
(ages 9 - 12) This collection of stories and interviews is the result of a simple question: "Why won't you start smoking?" Readers won't feel like they are being preached to, because the anti-tobacco message is being delivered by kids just like them. The stories, based on life experiences and observations, are diverse, personal, and smart – sometimes painful, sometimes funny. The ten reasons include the poor health of parents who smoke, addiction, self-image, the environment, and relationships. Our young contributors also bring up issues that kids might not consider, such as how cigarettes affect one's personal appearance, athletic performance, and bank account. The media's portrayal of smoking and the unscrupulous marketing tactics used by tobacco companies are also discussed. The stories are complemented by edgy illustrations, examples of anti-tobacco activism, quotes from nonsmoking celebrities, a foreword by Christy Turlington, important health facts, "instant history facts," and other sidebars which present the ugly truth about cigarettes.

Lessons from the Clean Air Act

Author: Ann Carlson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108421520
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 263

Book Description
Examines the successes and failures of the Clean Air Act in order to lay a foundation for future energy policy.

The Invisible Killer

Author: Gary Fuller
Publisher: Melville House
ISBN: 1612197841
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Book Description
An urgent examination of one of the biggest global crises facing us today—the drastic worsening of air pollution—and what we can do about it The air pollution that we breathe every day is largely invisible—but it is killing us. How did it get this bad, and how can we stop it? Far from a modern-day problem, scientists were aware of the impact of air pollution as far back as the seventeenth century. Now, as more of us live in cities, we are closer than ever to pollution sources, and the detrimental impact on the environment and our health has reached crisis point. The Invisible Killer will introduce you to the incredible individuals whose groundbreaking research paved the way to today's understanding of air pollution, often at their own detriment. Gary Fuller's global story examines devastating incidents from London's Great Smog to Norway's acid rain; Los Angeles' traffic problem to wood-burning damage in New Zealand. Fuller argues that the only way to alter the future course of our planet and improve collective global health is for city and national governments to stop ignoring evidence and take action, persuading the public and making polluters bear the full cost of the harm that they do. The decisions that we make today will impact on our health for decades to come. The Invisible Killer is an essential book for our times and a cautionary tale we need to take heed of.

Learning from SARS

Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309182158
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 376

Book Description
The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in late 2002 and 2003 challenged the global public health community to confront a novel epidemic that spread rapidly from its origins in southern China until it had reached more than 25 other countries within a matter of months. In addition to the number of patients infected with the SARS virus, the disease had profound economic and political repercussions in many of the affected regions. Recent reports of isolated new SARS cases and a fear that the disease could reemerge and spread have put public health officials on high alert for any indications of possible new outbreaks. This report examines the response to SARS by public health systems in individual countries, the biology of the SARS coronavirus and related coronaviruses in animals, the economic and political fallout of the SARS epidemic, quarantine law and other public health measures that apply to combating infectious diseases, and the role of international organizations and scientific cooperation in halting the spread of SARS. The report provides an illuminating survey of findings from the epidemic, along with an assessment of what might be needed in order to contain any future outbreaks of SARS or other emerging infections.

Jump

Author: Larry Miller
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062999834
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Book Description
One of the most successful Black businessmen in the country, who has led Nike’s Jordan Brand from a $200M sneaker company to a $4B global apparel juggernaut, tells the remarkable story of his rise from gangland violence to the pinnacles of international business. Jump tells Larry Miller’s journey from the violent streets of West Philly in the 1960s to the highest echelons of American sports and industry. Miller wound up in jail more than once, especially as a teenager. But he immersed himself in the educational opportunities, eventually took advantage of a Pennsylvania state education-release program offered to incarcerated people, and was able to graduate with honors from Temple University. When revealing his gangland past caused him to lose his first major job opportunity, Miller vowed to keep it a secret. He climbed the corporate ladder with a number of companies such as Kraft Foods, Campbell’s Soup, and Jantzen, until Nike hired him to run its domestic apparel operations. Around the time of Michael Jordan’s basketball retirement, Nike Chairman Phil Knight made Larry Miller president of the newly formed Jordan Brand. In 2007 Paul Allen convinced Miller to jump to the NBA to become president of the Portland Trailblazers, one of the first African-Americans to lead a professional sports team, before returning to Jordan Brand in 2012. All along, Miller lived two lives: the secret of his violent past haunted him, invading his days with migraines and his sleep with nightmares of getting hauled back to jail. More than a rags-to-riches story, Jump is also a passionate appeal for criminal justice reform and expanded educational opportunities for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people across the United States. Drawing on his powerful personal story, as well as his vast and well-connected network, Miller plans to use Jump as a launching point to help expand such opportunities and to provide an aspirational journey for those who need hope.

The End of Fossil Fuel Insanity

Author: Terry Etam
Publisher: FriesenPress
ISBN: 1525540262
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 241

Book Description
Everyone knows that fossil fuels won’t last forever. Something needs to change at some point, regardless of whether the issue is climate change or because we need a practical replacement for petroleum as cheap supplies run out. But while headlines suggest that a green-energy paradise is around the corner, not many are aware of the immense technical challenges that stand in its way. To turn our backs on fossil fuels, a staggering amount of work will be required to refit a global energy sector that has grown systematically for over a century. News of the latest green advancements can make it seem like plug-and-play technology, and simply a matter of switching from one source to another. In reality, the challenge is far greater, and infinitely more complicated. To make matters worse, environmentalists and fossil-fuel defenders wage continuous but fruitless war, and the growing gap makes it impossible to have any sort of constructive dialogue. Each camp becomes more locked in their position with every exchange, and the most revolutionary ideas never see the light of day. Instead of building, time and money are wasted sparring. Sparing no sacred cows, Terry Etam cuts through the media rhetoric, government propaganda, and widespread ignorance of the energy sector to get to the heart of what needs to change—and what needs to stay the same—if the challenges of moving away from fossil fuels are to be met, while maintaining the quality of life we have come to expect and rely on.

Revelations in Air

Author: Jude Stewart
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143135996
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Book Description
An extraordinary, strange, and startlingly beautiful exploration of smell, the least understood of our five senses The nose on your face is the Buckingham Palace Guard of your body, the maitre d' of all taste, as well as the seducer of your imagination, and memory—and Jude Stewart has charmed them all into a wicked, poetic and illuminating tour of their mysterious domains. —Jack Hitt, author of Bunch of Amateurs Overlapping with taste yet larger in scope, smell is the sense that comes closest to pure perception. Smell can collapse space and time, unlocking memories and transporting us to worlds both new and familiar. Yet as clearly as each of us can recognize different smells--the bright tang of citrus, freshly sharpened pencils, parched earth after rain--few of us understand how and why we smell. In Revelations in Air, Jude Stewart takes us on a fascinating journey into the weird and wonderful world of smell. Beginning with lessons on the incredible biology and history of how our noses work, Stewart teaches us how to use our noses like experts. Once we're properly equipped and ready to sniff, Stewart explores a range of smells—from lavender, cut grass and hot chocolate to cannabis and old books—using smell as a lens into art, history, science, and more. With an engaging colorful design and exercises for readers to refine their own skills, Revelations in Air goes beyond science or history or chemistry--it's a doorway into the surprising, pleasurable, and unfamiliar landscape of smell.

Clean Air

Author: Sarah Blake
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1643752227
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 339

Book Description
In this postapocalyptic story of mystery, suspense, grief, and loss, a girl processes her mother’s death as a serial killer’s presence makes her already dangerous world even more deadly. The climate apocalypse has come and gone, and in the end it wasn't the temperature climbing or the waters rising. It was the trees. They created enough pollen to render the air unbreathable, and the world became overgrown. In the decades since the event known as the Turning, humanity has rebuilt, and Izabel has grown used to the airtight domes that now contain her life. She raises her young daughter, Cami, and attempts to make peace with her mother's death. She tries hard to be satisfied with this safe, prosperous new world, but instead she just feels stuck. And then the tranquility of her town is shattered. Someone—a serial killer—starts slashing through the domes at night, exposing people to the deadly pollen. At the same time, Cami begins sleep-talking, having whole conversations about the murders that she doesn't remember after she wakes. Izabel becomes fixated on the killer, on both tracking him down and understanding him. What could compel someone to take so many lives after years dedicated to sheer survival, with society finally flourishing again? Suspenseful and startling, but also poetic and written with a wry, observant humor, this “skillful blend of postapocalyptic science fiction, supernatural murder mystery, and domestic drama is unexpected and entirely engrossing” (Publishers Weekly).