Scent-bearing hydrocarbon molecules released by flowers can be destroyed when they come into contact with ozone and other pollutants. This phenomenon triggers a cycle in which the pollinators have trouble finding sufficient food, and as a result their populations decline. Air pollution interferes with the ability of bees and other insects to follow the scent of flowers to their source, undermining the essential process of pollination, a study by three University of Virginia researchers suggests.

Air pollution heavy in small particles may cause blood clots in the legs, the same condition air travellers call "economy class syndrome" from immobility during flight, researchers said on Monday. Dr. Andrea Baccarelli of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and colleagues said they found the link after looking at 870 people in Italy who had developed deep vein thrombosis between 1995 and 2005.

City blocks boasting plenty of trees aren't only more pleasing to the eye; they may be healthier for children's lungs, according to research conducted in New York City. Four- and five-year-olds living along the city's greenest streets were less likely to have asthma than young children living in sparsely planted neighborhoods, Dr. Gina S. Lovasi and colleagues from Columbia University found.

NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE: Pollution, congested development and lack of a railway system such as the MRTS are depriving residents of north Chennai of quality life. A picture of contrast between Tondiarpet and Saidapet. The lines dividing north and south Chennai are not only drawn across access to quality healthcare, education or the standard of living but also physically drawn by the Railways.

The head of an Israeli-backed electric car project estimated on Sunday that its partner, the Renault-Nissan alliance, would likely invest $500 million to $1 billion in the swappable-battery electric cars. "This is the cost for a three-year car programme," Shai Agassi, the founder and chief executive of California-based Project Better Place, said on the sidelines of a news conference to introduce the electric car prototype.

*Not only are levels of Suspended Particulate Matter above permissible limits in Mumbai, but the worst pollutant after vehicular emissions has grown at an alarming rate. *Construction work among main causes; respiratory diseases are on the rise, say doctors Despite all the efforts to reign in pollution in the financial capital, data collected by a slew of mobile air quality monitoring vans across the city have some alarming news: The levels of Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM), or dust, in Mumbai's air have continued to increase over the past three years.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Midway Consortium decided to launch CNG buses on different routes of twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. It would make the transport system more effective and would also reduce the commuters rush on the bus stops The commuters were facing difficulties after termination of Varan Tours. At that time Varan was providing comfortable travelling facility to the commuters of the twin cities but the service was terminated due to certain reasons.

Soaring concentrations of hazardous fine particles in Central Europe have been traced back to parched farmland left to gather dust to the east in the Ukraine. In spring 2007 levels of particulate matter (known as PM10) reached almost 30 times the European average in parts of Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. Air quality specialists looking into the event now believe the dust originated from fallow land on Ukrainian farms and was carried west by unfavourable winds.

Cleaner air due to reduced coal burning could help destroy the Amazon this century, according to a finding published on Wednesday that highlights the complex challenges of global climate change. The study in the journal Nature identified a link between reduced sulphur dioxide emissions from coal burning and increased sea surface temperatures in the tropical North Atlantic that boosts the drought risk in the Amazon rainforest. With the rainforest already threatened by development, higher global temperatures could tip the balance, they said.