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Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego examining 14 years of hospital admissions data conclude that the fine particles in wildfire smoke can be several times more harmful to human respiratory health than particulate matter from other sources such as car exhaust. While this distinction has been previously identified in laboratory experiments, the new study confirms it at the population level.
This new research work, focused on Southern California, reveals the risks of tiny airborne particles with diameters of up to 2.5 microns, about one-twentieth that of a human hair. These particles - termed PM2.5 - are the main component of wildfire smoke and can penetrate the human respiratory tract, enter the bloodstream and impair vital organs.
SAN JOSE, Calif. Choking smoke from record wildfires blanketed Northern California last summer and fall. It turned Bay Area skies an otherworldly orange, raising health concerns over a hazard that is increasing as temperatures continue to climb and poorly managed forests burn out of control each year across the West.
In Southern California, pollutants from wildfire smoke caused up to a 10% increase in hospital admissions. Researchers say there's a need for better air monitoring and public health programs.
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UC San Diego has discovered that some female soupfin sharks return to a specific area of La Jolla Cove once every three years for reasons that are not entirely clear.
The finding is based on the movements of 34 pregnant soupfins that were tagged with acoustic transmitters so that they could be tracked as they migrated between La Jolla and points to north, mostly the Northern Channel Islands and San Francisco Bay.
The sharks that returned in three-year cycles spent part of the summer in the warm shallows just south of La Jolla’s Marine Room. Their arrival coincided with their three-year reproductive cycle.
Scientist Discovers Tiny Fish the Size of a Pill, Names It After the Pandemic newsweek.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newsweek.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.