Increased carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere also could worsen air pollution worldwide and lead to the deaths of up to 22,000 people a year, a new study shows. Rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels from burning fossil fuels have been linked to sea-level changes, snowmelt, disease, heat stress, severe weather, and ocean acidification, but this is the first study to link CO2 rise to pollution. Because carbon dioxide doesn't directly affect respiration, it hasn't been classified as an air pollutant. But the study, led by Mark Jacobson of Stanford University, predicts that as temperatures and water vapor rise because of extra atmospheric CO2, ozone pollution levels also will rise. Using a high-resolution model that correlates pollution levels to human health, Jacobson found that each 1.8-degree rise in temperature could increase yearly air pollution deaths in the USA by about 1,000, which he extrapolated to 22,000 worldwide. Jacobson notes that many of these deaths would likely occur in smoggy urban areas.

The Goa Pollution Control Board (GPCB) on Wednesday collected samples of coal and coke dust from the Vasco fishing jetty. Following demands from the Mormugao Bachao Abhiyan (MBA), the GPCB had installed a Mobile Respriable Dust Sampler unit at the fishing jetty on Tuesday at 8 am. After a gap of 24 hours, GPCB officials removed the unit and collected the samples. That the coal and coke dust levels were high seemed evident as the machine was covered with coal and coke dust, visible to the naked eye, despite the ongoing strike that has paralysed coal and coke handling operations at Berths 10 and 11 at the port. Admitting that there was coal and coke dust pollution, GPCB officials, however, declined to comment on the actual dust levels and only stated that the samples would be sent for tests. Speaking to Herald, MBA Convener Simon Pereira said: "The unit was installed on Tuesday and within 24 hours, coal and coke dust has settled on the unit, even though coal and coke handling operations have stopped due to the strike. Because of the 2000-odd workers, the entire population of Mormugao has to suffer.' A senior citizen, who was present at the site when officials collected the samples, claimed that coal dust enters his flat and settles on the floor, fan and clothes, creating a lot of inconvenience. Agreed Councillor Lavina Pinto: "Coal dust has created a lot of problems as it enters the houses along the costal belt of Khariwada. People have to clean their homes at least twice a day and the dust has also affected the health of the children.' Another Councillor Arnald Rego admitted that ailments like Asthma have been on the rise in the Port town. Residents at the site accused the Rojgar Bachao Abhiyan (RBA) of racking up the issue of coal for their personal benefits. They alleged that most truck and shovel owners are direct beneficiaries of the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT), while citizens have had to suffer from the coal dust.

Samples of air and wastewater belonging to the sugar mills of Sindh are being collected by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials for the last two days to check whether they are polluting environment, especially air and water. One of the sugar mills releases its toxic waste in a waterway that finds its way into the upstream Kotri Barrage. The samples are being taken under the directives of EPA Director-General Abdul Malik Ghauri, who has sent three officials, Ashiq Ali Dhamrah, Jehangir Hussain and Mohammad Hashim. An EPA official from Hyderabad, Irfan Abbasi, and two environmental inspectors from the district concerned are part of the team that is visiting different sugar mills. It was learnt here on Tuesday that the team had so far visited six sugar mills and one alcohol-producing unit. The mills included the Al-Abbas Sugar Mills, Mirpurkhas Sugar Mills, Matiari Sugar Mills, Digri Sugar Mills and Najma Sugar Mills. Their air samples and wastewater samples have been collected. The officials are travelling along with a mobile laboratory that had been gifted to Pakistan by the Japanese government. While confirming that the testing of samples would take some time, Mr Ghauri said: "Some samples are analysed in the mobile laboratory while some are sent to us in Karachi so that they can be tested at the main laboratory.' He said that the samples were being checked so that the sugar mills would improve their environmental standard. An official of the team told Dawn that one of the sugar mills was releasing its wastewater in a waterway that finds its way into the upstream Kotri barrage. A report said that the exercise of testing of air quality has been initiated by EPA in view of the on-going sugarcane season which began in December and would continue for another couple of months. According to environmentalists, smoke emitted from the chimneys of sugar mills pollutes the air and it causes various problems for the people who live in their vicinity. Mr Ghauri said that first air and liquid samples would be analysed and then the sugar mills would be graded. When asked whether any proceedings would follow if the sugar mills were found guilty of environmental pollution, he replied: "Certainly notices will be issued to the relevant sugar mill if the quality of air emission and wastewater don't conform with the National Environmental Quality Standards.' According to water technologist Dr Ahsan Siddiqui, the wastewater of a sugar mill is released on its own open ground by the mills management. He, however, added that the mill in question had no right to do that because wastewater through seepage contaminated water contained in the sub-soil, which is a natural resource of water for people who obtained water through suction pumps.

Discharge of untreated effluents from Khazana Sugar Mills has turned Shahalam River into a dead tributary causing water, land and air pollution in the surrounding areas of the provincial capital. Thousands of litres of hazardous waste are discharged into Shahalam, a tributary of River Kabul, daily during crushing season, which starts from December every year and continues till the end of March. Local people say that they cannot use the river water due to toxic waste. Khazana Sugar Mills which was privatised in mid-1990s situated near the river. Its crushing capacity is 4,000 tons per day, but presently it crushes over 2,000 tons of sugarcane daily due to lack of supply, says the management of the mills. The mills' manager administration Tali Mand said that over 200,000 tons of sugarcane had been crushed during current season. He said that the management had planed to build treatment plant before discharging the waste into the river, but the mills was going into losses which delayed the project. The mills' effluent is released into Shahalam River without treatment. Environmentalists said that hazardous substances discharged from the sugar mills absorbed oxygen from the water which caused water and air pollution. Residents of Khazana complain that discharge of untreated waste from the mills is not only polluting the river, but also causing severe air pollution. "We can hardly breathe because of the stink of effluents,' said Izatullah, a resident of Khazana. Industrial waste, he said, posed threat to aquatic life and every year killed thousands of fish in the river when the management washed the mills. Shahalam throws toxic waste of Khazana Sugar Mills into Kabul River. Provincial Environmental Protection Agency director general Dr Bashir Khan said that release of hazardous industrial waste into the river was a crime under the law and the agency would take legal action against the management of the mills. "The EPA inspectors will immediately visit the site and will serve notice on the mills' management,' he added. Under section 11(1) of the Environmental Protection Act, 1997 no person shall discharge or emit or allow the discharge or emission of any effluent or waste or air pollutant or noise in an amount, concentration or level which is in excess of the National Environmental Quality Standards.

Behaviour of monsoon in different climates to be assessed Integrated adaptation strategies to be identified The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University has initiated an inter-continental collaborative research on air pollution. The Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research (Bioforsk), Norway, and the International Pacific Research Centre, University of Hawaii, will collaborate with the university in the project, which is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Indian Meteorological Department and the Department of Science and Technology will also be involved. The Monterrey Tech., Mexico, will extend technical support in nano-nutrients that will help to minimise the impact of greenhouse gases, said a release. Scientific platform "The project will provide a scientific platform for these institutes to initiate research on mitigating the negative impact of global warming on Indian agriculture, especially in rice productivity,' says S. Natarajan, Director, Centre for Soil and Crop Management Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. The project will assess the behaviour of monsoon in different climates, and its impact on water availability and rice production in different meteorological sub-divisions. The research, Mr. Natarajan reckons, will lead to identification and implementation of integrated adaptation strategies to sustain rice productivity under changing climatic conditions. Vice-Chancellor C. Ramasamy and Mr. Natarajan will lead the steering committee.

People visiting the famed Khajuraho temples, known for their erotic sculptures, can now travel to the site in special battery-powered vehicles

A record number of 28 of Japan's 47 prefectures issued photochemical oxidant smog warnings in 2007, including Niigata and Oita prefectures, which issued warnings for the first time, the Environment Ministry said in a report Tuesday. The number of people who reported health problems due to the smog, which causes symptoms such as eye and throat pain, reached 1,910 in 14 prefectures, the ministry said. Warnings were issued in Saitama on 32 days, the highest number, followed by Kanagawa on 20 days, and Chiba and Tokyo on 17 days.

Saving the Maidan's green cover from pollution and turning it into the Guild's "permanent fair ground' is possible, provided the state government, the pollution control board and the ordinary book lover unite, city-based environmentalists said. The 32nd Kolkata Book Fair could not be held this year, due to the lack of a "permanent fair ground' and a token book fair is being organised at the Salt Lake stadium in March. Environmentalists think the amount of footfall at the book fair and pollution from vehicles are the two factors harmful to the Maidan's environment.